Chapter 2: Gilgamesh's Clutch

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Opus legacy! The book themed joint legacy written by hippielayla86 (Lydia) and ilovereecee (Katie). We are now in the second chapter of Lydia's turn. Our founder Gilgamesh is finally getting settled into a home now that his girlfriend Yuki has moved in.

When we left you last time, Gil was just about to ask Yuki a question, so let's go ahead and pick up right from there. :)

Chapter 2: Gilgamesh's ClutchWritten by:

hippielayla86

“Yuki, there's something I've been meaning to ask you. And now, I never thought I would want to ask this question to anyone but meeting you, and being with you has changed my mind -- Yuki does my breath stink?”

“Gil!?” Yuki couldn't stop laughing.

“Oh man, I knew I should have used less garlic... I guess my breath will have to wait...”

“What I really mean is, Yuki, will you be my wife?”

“Gil! I.. uh... I, well yes! Yes I will be! I never thought you wanted to get married, but now that you've asked me, I want nothing more than to be your wife!”

“Oh Yuki, I'm so relieved you said yes! Try it on, see if we need to get it sized.”

“Gil, it's so beautiful, and it fits perfectly, thank you so much! This must have cost you a fortune though...”“You're worth every penny I ever earn Yuki, plus it was on sale,” I joked waiting for her reaction.“Get out, it better not have been, I am worth every penny you'll ever earn!” She responded to my joke laughing, I've definitely picked the right woman for me.

“Nah, it wasn't on sale, I actually had it made custom for you. And now, a toast to my beautiful bride to be – To Yuki, the love of my life, the day to my night, the snow of my .. er, I don't know why I just said that... Yuki does mean snow right?”“Yes, you goofball! Is that your whole toast?”“Well no, it wasn't but now it is... Yuki, lets get married tonight!”

So just like that Yuki and I headed outside to the wedding arch I had gotten that day while she was sleeping and exchanged our vows.

---I had to strike while the iron was hot, in other words while romance sim Gil didn't fear proposing or getting married. ;)

“Yuki Murasaki, I take thee to be my wife, to have and to hold, all the days of my life...”

“Take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity”

“Gilgamesh Opus, I take thee as my husband, to have and to hold all the days of my life. Take this ring as a sign of my love

and fidelity.”

The couple then exchanged their first wedded kiss. Life for Yuki won't be changing too much, but we'll see how the romance sim Gil deals with having to be monogamous...

The newly weds quickly consummated their marriage by trying for their first child... as Gil bent to kiss Yuki he told her,“Yuki, you know what they say the best part of having kids is?”“What is that dear?” Yuki said wondering what I had in mind.“Making them of course.. so let's get to it!”

The next morning Yuki came home from work with some very bad news. She had offended one of the party guests by streaking through their party trying to liven things up. The worst of it is that she has to go back to being a golf caddy.

But that won't be happening right away, because Yuki also found out that she and I are expecting a child! Boy was that ever quick!

Yuki didn't seem too upset about her job, she was mostly consumed with the idea of having a child.

“This is incredible Yuki, I can feel him kicking!”“How are you so sure our baby is a boy?”“I just have a good feeling about it...” I wouldn't tell Yuki this, but I wasn't really thinking about it at all when I said 'him' I have no idea what gender our baby is... we'll just have to wait and see.

I didn't say so then, but on the same day Yuki got shunned from the local party scene, I also had to take cover for a while being her husband... so I'm currently not working.* But it's been nice to be able to be home with Yuki. I've also gotten to reconnect with Diver, the stray dog I hadn't seen in a couple of weeks.---*Gil also got a bad chance card that same day, and got fired. I told you the good luck faded away Darcy!

We've bonded enough that I've gotten a dog food dish and put it on the porch along with a little dog bed for him. He's essentially moved in.*

---*Gil adopted Diver. :D

Though I love Diver, he has some really annoying bad habits that we need to cure before he'll be completely on my good side! To be sure, he got a good scolding for tearing up our new couch.

It's been a few months since we found out Yuki was pregnant – and as our baby grows, our good luck seems to return. I've finally been able to come out of hiding and started working as a golf caddy again.

One day as I arrived home with a promotion, I saw Yuki on the front porch screaming in pain.

She was going to give birth to our first child.

As I ran up the stairs to be by her side, Yuki gave birth to Robinton, a beautiful boy with green eyes and black hair.

Robinton is named after the Master Harper of Pern (essentially the leader of all of the musicians on Pern), one of Anne McCaffrey's most famous characters. Though he isn't really the main character of Dragonflight, Dragonquest or The White Dragon – he always steers attention toward himself with his common sense, his charisma and prized wine tasting accuracy. He is often spotted drinking a “good Benden red” with his bronze fire lizard Zair perched on his shoulder.

Picture by: http://www.robinwood.com/Catalog/Prints/PrintPages/Robinton.html

As I reached Yuki, I greeted our newest addition to our family, little Robinton. I vowed from that day on that even though it may not be my first instinct to put family first, and I never dreamt of wanting a family, I would be there for Yuki and Robinton through thick and thin.

Anne's Robinton's father Petiron, (what a mouthful!) a Master Composer felt that his wife Merelan was robbed from him when Robbie was born. Fortunately for our Robinton, Gilgamesh is a very loving and attentive father. Now, I don't want to say that Petiron wasn't loving, he was just a selfish perfectionist. ;)

Since I have my job back, and Yuki was really exhausted, we ended up having to hire a nanny. Little help she turned out to be though – she spends most of her time putting her grubby hands on our moneytrees.

There will be a lot of rejoicing the day we're able to be free of the nanny!

I've been working hard day and night trying to get my reputation back up enough to get my old job back. I really miss being a party DJ.And though it doesn't seem like much, I've starting working again at the record shop,* so I've got my foot in the door.---*Gil has gotten a job in the slacker career again, and has worked his way back up to a record store clerk.

Yuki is a natural mother and Robinton is a very quiet and content baby. Robinton is just a little joy to have around. I guess I had always been expecting raising children to be a nightmare, but there are things that make being a parent the best thing that could ever happen to a sim!

I've heard things will change though once we have another child. As it is we have little free time for each other. When we do get those few precious moments, everything is quick, budgeting our time.

“Darling, shall we?” - I asked Yuki while I carried her into our bedroom.

“We haven't in the car yet... why don't we try that out...”

Most people have to beg their spouses to be more adventurous, me, I kind of miss woohoo the good old fashioned way... but really, you don't need to know that.

With all of our fun though, Yuki and I have been having trouble getting pregnant.

Yuki and I take turns going to work while the other one stays at home with Robbie. We've just gotten too fed up with the Nanny and decided to fire her.

I should have said, the other gets to stay home with Robbie and a stinky Diver. This dog certainly lives up to his stray dog days and stray dog name. Always getting into messes.

Tonight is Robbie's birthday, and Yuki looked especially happy. There's something that she's not telling me, I know it.

It was then that I realized that Yuki's midsection looked a bit swollen. She's pregnant and hasn't told me! I'll just have to ask her tonight about it to confirm my suspicions.

But back to the task on hand, Robbie had a great birthday and such a handsome little tyke. He looks so much like Yuki it's sort of unreal.---Robinton is a Scorpio – 5 Neat, 4 Shy, 10 Active, 5 Playful, and 5 Nice points.

Not only is Robbie cute, but he's extremely intelligent. Tonight we sat down together and I tried to get him to talk. It didn't take long before my little man was saying “Dadda” like a champ! At one point we got so advanced that Robbie said “Potty” and I took him to the toddler toilet and he used it! I couldn't believe my eyes.---Gil taught Robinton to talk and potty trained him that first night of his toddler years.

Since I monopolized our little guy all night, Yuki stepped in to read Robbie a bedtime story.

Now that Robbie's a toddler, we have some more freetime. So my little garden has really taken off. Yuki and I are really proud that we grow our own food.

---Gil has received his gold gardening badge.

My suspicions were correct, Yuki is pregnant again and it's beginning to show. She is such a trooper, never slowing down, always being there for Robbie.

Tonight she helped him take his first steps.

---Yuki taught Robinton to walk.

So, just as I feared Gina has discovered that she wasn't the “one” and that I'm married. Although, it's not really too bad, she's been stealing our newspaper in retribution for me abandoning her. It could have been much worse!

Yuki and I have agree that when we have more money, we really need to look into getting a greenhouse built for our garden. All of the direct exposure to the elements makes it a big chore for us to take care of it.

And with Yuki pregnant and me at work, it's just a bit much.---Yuki has gotten her gold gardening badge.

It seemed to be a long time in the coming, but Yuki has given birth to our second child. Our second born is a beautiful girl with my mother's blonde hair. It was sort of shocking at first to see our little Sallah's light hair and complexion, but my mother was also fair of skin and hair.

Sallah is named after Sallah Telgar from Anne McCaffrey's book Dragonsdawn. Dragonsdawn follows the lives of the first humans to colonize Pern, a new planet much like the ancient Earth. Both of Sallah's parents died in a war, and therefore she was granted a large “stake” on the new planet, she was also a very good pilot.In the end of Dragonsdawn, Sallah makes a great act of heroism, and puts “Pern business” before her own. For those who haven't read the book, I don't want to go into too much detail, but she is a wonderful character. :DThe picture of Sallah was done by Linda Eicher

I'm very glad that everything went well with delivery and that Sallah is a very happy and healthy baby.

Sallah seems to be our little family good luck charm, I got a bonus and a promotion on the day she was born. On the job I decided to take up my employer's offer of payment with stock instead of my day's pay. While you may think I was crazy for doing it, I made a 4000 simoleon bonus! With that money I was able to start my own Web Design company. And tonight is Robbie's birthday.---Gil was promoted to a Freelance Web Designer.

I made sure to spend some time with Robbie before his big transition into his next stage of life. My little boy is growing up so quickly.

We've discovered that Robbie is a natural musician. He seemed to be drawn* to our piano which neither Yuki or I played. It's nice to hear it in use.

---*Robinton's first autonomous queue was to play the piano. He gained 5 creativity points in one sitting that first night as a child.

Diver has a new admirer in Robbie. My son is quick to oblige Diver's begging for attention. It's great to see that our son is so kind, it gives us hope that he won't torment Sallah too much when she gets older.

With our lives getting busier, we all still take the time to sit down and have meals together. Yuki is very adamant about us spending quality time together.

Yuki's been back at work again and has being doing really well. She's been getting sick of working for a company and has decided to freelance* it with her photography. Luckily it's going really well!---*Yuki has gotten a promotion in the Slacker career to Freelance Photographer. She is slowly making her way back up to Pro Party Guest which will fulfil her LTW.

Just like Robbie before her, Sallah is a very spoiled child. Yuki spends all of her time doting on her daughter, so much so that I can't get in any time edgewise.

Time sure flies by when you're having fun! And our fun has shown its consequences er rewards again. Yuki and I are expecting another addition to our family – I was happy with two. I think we may need to be a bit more careful with our fun.

Tonight was Sallah's birthday, and we've already discovered that she is just as active as Robbie is. She's been crawling all over the house getting into all kinds of trouble!---Sallah is a Scorpio like Robinton but is very shy: 6 Neat, 1 Outgoing, 10 Active, 5 Playful, 3 Nice

Once we got Sallah tracked down, we fed her some formula. Then I took her into her shared bedroom with Robbie so she could play with her new – to her - toys.

I had to head out to work, so Yuki spent the night with our children. She helped Robbie with his homework while Sallah played away with her bunny head.

Once Robbie finished his homework he went outside and harvested our lemon tree. He's decided that now that he's “all grown up” he's going to help with the garden. It's admirable, but I doubt it will last long!

Quite a bit of time has passed since we last spoke. Yuki is very near to her due date and Sallah has been taught all of her essential early skills – walking, talking and using the potty.Things for me have been really monotonous lately – go to work, come home eat and sleep, go to work repeat, repeat, repeat. But, when you don't much money and your wife has to stay home from work, you have to do what's required.

Diver continues to be a big hit among our children. Although Sallah isn't quite as kind as her brother Robbie is with Diver... she sort of man handles the poor dog!---There's that one nice point showing as Sallah bites Diver's ear, lol.

Finally the night came when Yuki went into labor.

Our third child is another daughter who we named Nerilka. She has brown hair and grey eyes.---Nerilka's namesake is the daughter of a greedy lord who doesn't want to share his supplies with any other hold when a plague spreads across Pern. Nerilka doesn't agree with her father and sets out from home with supplies and her skills as a healer. Since she's abandoned her father and home, she has accepted that she is to stay unmarried and without a home. But there is a surprise in store for her at Ruatha Hold. Nerilka's Story is one of my favorites of McCaffrey's novels.

Yuki surprised both of us when she gave birth to a son, she had been pregnant with twins. We named our youngest son Sebell. He has brown hair and green eyes.---Sebell's namesake is another of Pern's musicians (ie harper). In the books he is Robinton's apprentice and Robinton feels as if he is the son he never had. Though his personality isn't as boisterous as Robinton's he is also a very influential leader as well as a very talented musician. Sebell's story is very long and I don't want to give anything away, so that's all I can say about him. :D

All of my hard work has paid off! I have finally become one of the “in” crowd, invited to every A-list party.---After the huge set back of having to start at the bottom of the slacker career after being at Lev. 7 Gil has finally fulfilled his LTW. He is now a Pro Party Guest! He also got a nice bonus of 4,375 simoleons.

Since our family has gotten so large all of a sudden, and we're more financially sound we've made an addition to our house. We now have a second floor.---For now, the second floor is very bare! Gil and Yuki are still pretty poor, so all that is up there is a desk with the “humble” computer, a bare bones bathroom and Robinton's bed in his new bedroom.

And this is a current view of the first floor turned to the side so it would all fit in. The right of the screen is the front of the house and the left of the screen is the back. Starting from the left botton we have the nursery which Sallah, Sebell and Nerilka currently occupy. Next to it is the living room with their piano, tv and chess table. The top left to right is Gil and Yuki's bedroom, a bathroom and then the kitchen/dining room.

My promotion couldn't have come at a better time! With the birth of Nerilka and Sebell, Yuki and I have our hands full.

The shorter hours of work and fewer work days are exactly what we needed. Especially since Yuki is anxious to get back to work too.

It seems Yuki is serious about work, and so I've taken some time off from work to help out with the kids. I must admit, I'm loving all of the time I get to spend with Sallah, she is such a smart little girl.

I don't know what I was thinking... I guess maybe I thought Diver was lonely? Although, how a dog could be lonely with 2 adults and 2 children to give it attention, I don't know.

But, I called up the pet adoption center and adopted a female puppy as a companion for Diver. We named her Kimi.---Kimi is Sebell's gold fire lizard who ends up mating with Diver Menolly's bronze fire lizard.

I wasn't able to get to the door when the officer dropped Kimi off for us. I was busy with Sebell, changing his diaper. I knew I would hear about my moment of misjudgement though...

Sure enough...“Darling, I know you like pets, and Kimi is charming... but couldn't we have just gotten a fish?” - I felt a bit bad listening to Yuki, I could tell she was having a hard time even staying awake... I suppose she's right. We do have twin infants, a toddler, a young son and one dog already. Maybe a puppy wasn't the most practical addition to the family... she sure is cute though.

I was glad to see as I left for work after breakfast that Diver and Kimi were getting along really well. I don't think I ever would've lived it down if the two of them didn't get along!---Maybe Diver knows the real reason behind Gil adopting Kimi, future puppies of course!

Yuki has started Gilgamesh's portrait.

And Sallah has aged up to a child. I've never had this many birthdays that weren't celebrated for a family... It's been rough playing without snapdragons for once!

Tonight is the twin's birthdays. I got the honor of taking Sebell to his cake. He has grown into a very charming little man.---Sebell has a lot of extra points over the average 25 for sims, he is a Scorpio: 7 Neat, 7 Outgoing, 9 Active, 7 Playful, 5 Nice. <-- In my opinion an awesome personality!So far he is the only Outgoing child in the second generation.

Yuki took Nerilka to her cake, our daughter continues to get prettier as she grows.---Nerilka is a Virgo: 10 Neat, 2 Shy, 10 Active, 7 Playful, and 3 Nice.

Robbie and Sallah had a good time at their brother and sister's birthday party. They entertained themselves with a fun game of fake boxing before they ran into the living room to start off some group smustling.

Unfortunately our neighbors didn't appreciate our stereo being on so late at night... the cop came to break up our party prematurely.---The party ended with a “good” score.

Now that the twins are toddlers, we got to work right away to help them be more autonomous. I successfully taught Nerilka how to use the toddler toilet tonight! Its funny how big of a task it is to potty train... I never though I'd be so excited about a toilet.

Little Robbie has been glued to the piano ever since his last birthday and it shows! We have a little Simzart on our hands!---Robinton has maxed his creativity skill.

Little Nerilka spoils the family dogs. It seems every time she's “missing” I'll find her cuddling with Diver or Kimi.

Little Sebell on the other hand has been drawn to crayons and paper.

He isn't alone in his enthusiasm for creating. Both Sallah and Nerilka often join him at the activity table. Though I must say both Sebell and Neri spend a lot of time with the blocks and crayons in their mouths instead of building or drawing with them.

Up until now, Rob has been a very quiet boy, keeping to himself. Today he surprised us and made friends with Scott.

He and his new friend Scott spend their Saturday afternoon having a dance competition... or at least that's what it looked like to me.

Since I potty trained Neri, Yuki is in the process of trying to teach Neri to talk.

Yuki was beside herself when the first word out of Neri's mouth was, “Mama.”

Personally I think it's mostly since we've locked our money plants in our bedroom.---Yes, they still need the money trees. I've forgotten how low the pay is for slackers. Since both Yuki and Gil wanted to be a Pro Party Guests, the Opuses are still quite poor. And, I mostly took this picture, because this is the first time I've seen someone sitting while holding a toddler. I guess it was the sectional couch that did it.

As you can see, we've had to hire the nanny again... we really didn't want to, but this time around, she's being quite attentive.

We got some shocking news this morning... Yuki is pregnant again! We had decided that after Sebell and Neri, we were quite content.. but I guess the gods had other things in mind for us.---I accidentally clicked try for baby instead of woohoo... and of course Yuki got pregnant. Sorry about the big family coming your way Katie!

Lately Sallah has been helping out a lot with our garden. And now that Yuki is pregnant again, we don't know what we'd do without her help. She's getting quite good at knowing how much to water and fertilize all of the different vegetables.---Sallah has gotten her bronze gardening badge.

Today, it was time for Robbie to come into his manhood.

Our son is really taking after his parents, he is interested in all things fun and romantic... I hope we can continue to get along with our son now that he's proved to be our little clone.---Robinton is a Pleasure/Romance sim who loves Artistic Sims who wear jewelry, but not facepaint. His LTW will change once Katie gets the family, but for now its to reach the top of the Gamer career.

He is now a hormone ruled teen with a huge mop of hair. I'll have to take the boy under my wings and show him how to take care of that unruly hair...

Now that Robbie, er Rob – he doesn't want us to call him Robbie anymore – is a teenager, Yuki and I aware of how quickly our children are growing up. So Sebell, Neri and Sallah are going to be smothered with attention.

Rob isn't the only one who had a birthday recently. Kimi is now a grown dog, she's actually a larger dog than Diver, lets hope that this doesn't get in the way of their relationship... hah.

And unfortunately, good people, this is where our story has to end for today. I hope you enjoyed our story so far, make sure to check in next time to see Sebell, Neri, and Sallah all grown up. We'll also be welcoming a new Opus to the family too.---Lydia here, turn to the last page for all of the usual end of chapter-ness.

So ends Chapter 2: Gilgamesh's Clutch – wondering about the title? Well, in Anne McCaffrey's books, she calls the Dragon's many laid eggs a “clutch” and you in a way, met Gil's clutch of children. ;)

I hope you enjoyed the second chapter! If you did, make sure to tell Katie and I what you think of the legacy over at SiMania -- www.s12.invisionfree.com/sim_maniaTake care, and happy simming!Hippielayla86 aka Lydia