1.9. Life's Little Surpises

"What's that noise?" Scheherazade asked herself one evening.  It was odd not being at work, but she couldn't work while so visibly pregnant in any bar in town.  As much as she missed the hubbub, it was going to be quiet nights in for the foreseeable future.  She hoped she had saved enough.

The noise continued.  It sounded like a high pitched whine and was coming from the dumpsters next to the abandoned warehouse across the road.  Pulling on her coat, Scheherazade went to investigate.

Some of the kids in the neighbourhood had built an igloo in the empty parking yard and as Scheherazade got closer she found that the sound was definitely coming from by the dumpster.

The closer she got, the more certain she was that the sound was crying, crying muffled by the snow.  She most as fast as her unbalanced, pregnant body could carry her.

Bending down, she reached into the snow and picked up a small baby.  The little thing was freezing, having been wrapped in only a pink blanket that was soaked through with barely melted snow.

She hurried back inside, to the warmth of her house hoping that she had been quick enough.
"What to do, what to do?" Scheherazade asked herself before closing the door.  She too off the coat and held the frozen babe against her to gently warm it up.  Eventually, it had stopped crying.  She hoped that that was a good thing.  It had seemed to be moving more just before it had.  But what did she know?  She was only pregnant - and unexpectedly at that.  She didn't know about frozen babies in the snow.  She picked up the phone.  The local Adoption Authorities would know what to do with the baby.

"Well, Ma'am.  It looks like the baby is fine.  But there was a real risk of hypothermia.  You really should have called us before trying to leave you baby in a dumpster, not when you had second thoughts," stated the Social Worker.
"What?  I found the baby.  Somebody abandoned it, but it wasn't me!" gasped Scheherazade.
The Social Worker's eyes glanced down at Scheherazade's belly before they rolled upwards.  "Ma'am.  There is no need to lie.  I have seen it all the time.  Destitute mothers giving birth at home and then trying to call the Agency to report an abandoned baby.  Most aren't cruel enough to put them out in the snow first.  And it's not like you can hide your recent pregnancy just yet... even with a billowing shirt."
"Current pregnancy, " Scheherazade gritted her teeth as she spat out the words.  "Destitute?  How dare you judge me by the size of my home!  This, this is luxury compared to what some people have.  I have seen people who have everything that they could wish for and they still aren't happy.   They are miserable.  There is more to life than big fancy houses."
"Well, where this little one is going, there'll be neither.  There's been a baby boom in town recently and kids just aren't getting adopted.  It's a childhood in an institution for her," the Social Worker informed Scheherazade.

"Put her down then," Scheherazade blocked the Social Worker's path.
"Excuse me?"
"I said put her down."
The social worker put down the basket and then rose to meet Scheherazade's eyes.  "So, you admit it then? She's yours?"
"What happens if I admit that she's mine and if I want her?" Scheherazade asked.
"Since I'm here, I fill out the paperwork to register her birth.  We make a note of this incident for future record - should anything else be reported, we'll take the child away, but for now we'll just call it a post partum episode.  No real damage was done, but we'll be keeping an eye on you to make sure that you don't do anything else... rash."
"And what happens if I give birth to another child in a few days?"
"Look, I don't know why you are still trying to keep up the act.  If you don't want her, I'll take her away..."
"What happens?"
"I look like a right idiot, but since you're registered as her birth mother, there's not much we can do about it unless her biological mother comes forward and asks for DNA testing."
Scheherazade closed her eyes for a moment.  Another baby would be stretching it.  But she didn't want to see the institution this piece of work was from. "She's mine.  I'll... I'll keep her.  I don't want her to go away any more.  What do you need to know?"
The Social Worker smirked.  "Well, I can tell she was born earlier today.  Probably around 5 hours ago..."
"Almost exactly," Scheherazade chimed in.  She didn't even know what time it was now since she didn't have work.
"Your name?"
"Scheherazade Djinn."
"Really?  The Mixologist?" The Social Worker's eyebrow raised.
"Yes."
"How very interesting.  And who is the father?"
"I... I don't know." Scheherazade was not going to pull Zhan Su into her lie, even if he was the only man she had ever slept with.  His name would go on her unborn child's birth certificate, not her new foundling child.
"That's even more interesting."
Scheherazade sighed.  The smirk on the Social Worker's face told her that any privacy or confidentiality she thought she might have could not be counted on.  All of Starlight Shores would know within the week that she was an unwed mother.
The social worker continued, "And what are you naming the baby?"
"Gulnare.  Gulnare Djinn."
"Punishing her with her name then?"
"No!  It means Rose.  And I am naming her after the first great Arabian Queen in the tales."
"Look, I don't need to know.  Just sign here on the following pages..."

"Just one little lie and my reputation, but you're safe now," Scheherazade spoke to the little pink baby.

"I'll get another cot in the morning.  It's going to be difficult, but we'll manage.  You may not be rich or famous, but you have a family." Scheherazade held the baby up high until she cooed.  This little baby was her daughter now, no matter what happened.




A few days went by.  Scheherazade practicing what the books suggested with "Gully".  It was difficult with her unborn baby squirming and kicking in her belly, but her new daughter needed her too.




One night she woke up, yet again to the sound of screaming, but it was not Gully needing a bottle or needing a change or a cuddle.  The cry had come from her own lips.  She was going into labour.

She got out of bed and reached for her overnight case and the phone to call a taxi, but then she realized - she could not leave Gully home alone, what if her baby needed her?

Like it or not, she was having the baby at home.  And if she didn't stop screaming, she'd wake Gully soon.

A few Sim Fu katas helped keep the worst of the pain at bay for a while...

...until her mind wondered to her work.  How was she going to do this?  Two babies?  And her alone?  How would she keep her job?  Babysitters were expensive, they could cost more than what she was paid.

The magic sparkles over came her and all thoughts of work were gone.

The baby was coming.

Scheherazade held her new daughter in her arms as the sparkles disappeared.  Looking at her for the first time.

She had her father's skin...

... and the most beautiful smile.  Shen.  She would name her Shen.



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Generation One: Revealed
Family Structure: Mixed Single
Number of children: 2
Primary Income: Mixologist
Secondary Income(s): N/A
Generation Goal: ?
Miscellaneous Fun: Multi-cultural

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Random Bonus Shot(s):

For a New Year's "treat" there are two random shots (OK, I just couldn't decide which one to use).

No, Scheherazade!  That is not how you hold a baby!

I agree, someone asking you on a date when you are that heavily pregnant with someone else's child is a terrible idea... but my word!  The FACE!


Happy New Year everyone!  1 hour to go here, so I thought I'd start off with some new babies for the new year.  ^^ Blog has now caught up to play, so I have to play a bit until I can write again.  Though with the boyfriend playing Starcraft, I may just bring in the New Year with Sims!  :D