Drake swims a few laps in the pool. He’s glad that Dub invited him on this trip. Traveling and seeing more of the Sim world has always been on his to-do list, but a big part of him wishes he had more time to prepare.
Drake steps out of the pool to take a new selfie for his Cupid’s Corner profile. If Dub’s invitation wasn’t at the last minute, he could have made an appointment with his stylist to add some color to his hair – a bold purple this time and perhaps that same purple for his nails. Instead, he has to begin this vacation looking…regular.
But Dub has invited him here to serve as a glorified babysitter anyway, so none of that matters. This trip isn’t about him. He’s here to help his brother out. So that’s what he’ll do. While Dub and Maia are upstairs getting ready for their big date, Drake takes his niece Tambara to the nearby park. At least he’ll be able to see some of the city that way.
The park is pleasant and seems a favorite among the locals and tourists. Several couples sit on the benches chatting, eating lunch, or staring at the clouds. Drake ignores them all and takes Tami to the toddler slides, which she seems to enjoy. After a few times down the slide, Tami comes up with another suggestion.
Tambara: We make caso, Unco Da.
Drake: *chuckles* It’s uncle Dray…not Da.
Tambara: *insistent tone* Unco Da, caso!
Drake: Caso? What’s a caso?
Tambara: San caso! We make san caso!
It takes a minute, but when Drake thinks about it, he realizes what Tami is trying to say.
Drake: You want to build a sandcastle?
Tami nods with enthusiasm, practically banging her chin on her chest.
Drake: Okay, but you’d better hope we find some sand.
Dub didn’t warn him that Tami doesn’t like to be carried. Drake learns that the hard way when he picks her up and transports her in his arms around the park in search of a sandpit while she whines and struggles to be put down.
Eventually, Drake takes the hint and puts her back on her feet in the sand. Tami is in her happy place and quickly forgives him. She grabs a bucket and uses a shovel to fill it, only to dump it all out again after it’s about half full.
Tambara: *giggling* You build caso too!
Tami isn’t content with him just watching. He’s going to have to get down in the sand with her. Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t get his nails done after all.
Drake drops to his knees and begins using his hand to shovel sand into his bucket. He can see why Tami likes the sand so much. There’s something almost therapeutic about letting it run through his fingers. Drake is not talented enough to build a castle, but he and Tami are content to pile sand into uneven mounds.
Drake: What do you think, Tami? Instead of a castle, maybe we can build a mountain as tall as-
Drake’s words trail off after he notices a pair of feet in cute sandals approaching him. He stands up quickly and is eye-to-eye with the owner of those feet – a girl with brown eyes, straight dark hair, and plump, kissable lips in a floral dress.
She speaks to him in rapid Spanish, which makes her even more attractive. He can recall a phrase or two from his high school classes, but those classes only taught him the basics. Drake isn’t entirely sure that his teacher even knew much Spanish herself.
He has perfected one statement—at least he hopes he has.
Drake: No hablo Español.
She smiles, apologizes, and speaks again. Her English is much better than his Spanish.
Mariana: She is adorable. Is she yours?
Drake: Umm, well….
In a perfect world, he’d be answering her in Spanish. That would surely impress her. He silently curses himself for not paying closer attention in his class.
Drake: No, she’s my niece, Tambara. I’m just babysitting.
Mariana: I’m Mariana. I’m not sure I’ve seen you around here?
Drake: I’m just here visiting-my name is Drake.
Mariana: Pleasure meeting you, Drake. How are you liking the city?
An open-ended question that he can draw out for as long as he wants, keeping her and her lovely accent here much longer. This babysitting gig may pay off if Tami attracts girls like this.
Drake: It’s nice-I mean what I’ve seen so far, anyway. Which isn’t much, just what I could see from the plane. My brother invited me on this trip to help babysit my niece.
Mariana: And how is she? She looks to be a handful, but I guess most toddlers are at her age.
Drake: Honestly, I –
Drake trails off. Something is missing here. It takes him a moment to realize what it is – he no longer hears Tami giggling or scrapping her shovel in the sand. He turns around and sees only her tiny footsteps. As small as she is, she couldn’t have gone very far, but Drake doesn’t see her. Where’d she go so fast?
Drake: My brother is going to kill me.
Mariana looks over Drake’s shoulder.
Mariana: I found her!
She spots Tami and runs after her. Drake breathes out his relief and follows Mariana and Tami.
Mariana soon catches up with her, effectively stopping Tami from getting away.
Mariana: ¡Qué linda eres!
That stops Tami in her tracks. There’s no way she should understand what Mariana has just said, but she smiles and walks over to the nearby bench.
Tambara: Sit wit me, peeze.
Yep! Babysitting is paying off. Without Tambara, Mariana surely would have lost all interest and moved on by now. He watches as Tambara covers her eyes to initiate a game.
Tambara: Peek-ah-boo, I see you!
Mariana: I see you too!
Drake suddenly remembers that he’s the babysitter, not Mariana. He walks over to rescue her.
Drake: I’m sorry about that. *joking tone* I promise I didn’t pay her to keep you here.
Mariana: She gave me a good workout, at least! I could have fell in this dress, you know. *teases back*
Drake: Sorry about that, too. But I’m glad you found her so quickly. I’m usually the one that goes missing in my family. If I had lost her – I never would have heard the end of it.
Mariana: Lucky I was here then.
If she’s content with hanging out with him and Tami, he’d say he’s very lucky.
Mariana: So, is this your first time babysitting her? Is she usually this energetic?
Drake: Honestly, I haven’t had the chance to be around her very much, so yes – it’s the first time. I don’t live close to my brother. But, from my experience so far, she’s a lot like I was as a toddler – always getting into something. I kept my parents on their toes.
Mariana: *laughs* I don’t know much about children, yet, but I always think if they are misbehaving to just give them ice-cream and everything will be alright!
Drake: Maybe I’ll give that a shot. Although I’m not sure it would have worked for me.
Mariana: It looks like she’s had a lot of fun at least.
Drake: I’m decent at entertaining kids. I used to babysit my aunt’s triplets when they were younger. But none of them ever went missing.
Mariana: I guess they just didn’t have the energy of Tambara!
Tami grows bored with Drake and Mariana and pulls out her toddler tablet. Mariana scoots over on the bench, leaving room for Drake, which he happily fills.
Drake has always prided himself on his ability to jump into everything head first, but something about Mariana has him feeling off-kilter, as if he genuinely has something to lose here if he doesn’t play his cards right.
They sit silently and watch the other park patrons as they walk by. Drake has to think of something to keep her here just a little longer and realizes his typical pranks and mischief won’t do.
Drake: I was just about to give Tami a snack. We have extras if you’re hungry.
Mariana: I might be hungry, depending on what you have.
Drake: I brought some of my ma’s watermelon preserves. I promise you’ve never tasted anything like it.
Mariana: Now, I can’t possibly turn that down!
Drake silently cheers for his ma’s preserves for the win.
Mariana agrees to walk with him and Tami to a nearby picnic blanket.
Mariana: I have to say, I didn’t plan on having a picnic, buuuuut sometimes the best things are never planned.
Drake: Unplanned is my middle name.
Mariana: *chuckles*
Drake: Just so you know – I won’t be babysitting the entire time. I’m hoping to see more of the city-know of any good tour guides?
Drake hopes she takes the hint.
Mariana: I’d love to show you a few places here. You might need me around, at least for help with your Spanish.
Drake: That’s what I hoped to hear—as long as I don’t get into trouble with your husband or boyfriend.
Another hint–Drake holds his breath.
Mariana: *laughs* Oh, you won’t have to worry about that. I’m single.
They’ll have to exchange contact information if they hope to meet again.
Drake: Are you available tomorrow? Maybe I can get your contact info, and we can set something up.
Mariana: Hmm, well, we will see about tomorrow, buuuuut sure! I think I’d like that!
Drake gives Mariana his cell so she can put in her contact info but forgets that his Cupid’s Corner profile is still open. He doesn’t realize it until he sees the shock on Mariana’s face.
Mariana: Still looking for the right one, huh? I can understand that.
If Drake could melt into the blanket, he would. He didn’t intend on anyone seeing that picture. He hadn’t even saved it yet.
Drake: *embarrassed* Uh, yeah-I don’t use that much. I just figured it wouldn’t hurt to update my pic. Maybe I should just put your number in myself.
Drake holds his hand out, and Mariana returns the phone, reciting her number for Drake to input.
Mariana appears to be amused by the entire encounter. They both realize that it’s getting late at the same time.
Drake: Sorry for keeping you here for so long. I’m sure you had better things to do today.
Mariana: It was so nice to meet you, and I look forward to seeing you again.
Mariana gets up to leave. Drake stares after her, hoping he’ll get to see her again. Maybe this time on an actual date.
(**Note: Mariana was created and written by Maria, also known as igglemouse. The link takes you to her Tumblr page!)
(Generation 4 Chapter Summaries)
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