::1.7:: Skepticism

So.  Your mom's in love with a werewolf man.  Too in love to kick him out, even after he flakes on parenting for an entire winter to go chill on the beach with some rando.  It's not like he's a bad person, but he keeps bringing back random junk to try and win her over, like that's supposed to make up for an entire season of literal abandonment.

What do you do?

Take his first day back, for example.

It's morning; the kids have left for school, and Sunflower is halfway out the door when Denn shows up, back from a hunt, offering her some uncut gems with a hopeful expression.  She stares at them until he timidly slips them back into his pocket.  Then she frowns; leans in to get a closer look at semi-healed puncture wounds on his neck.  "You were hurt?"

"I have a vampire friend in Lucky Palms.  He's chill, let's me stay with him during the winter in exchange for... a sip."  He looks concerned.  "That doesn't bother you, does it?"

Sunflower brushes his hair away from his neck.  "Should it?"

"No."  The careful scrape of Denn's claws against her palm is grounding, though part of her doesn't want it to be.  "I know you need to go to work.  I'll stay here with the pup.  Charlie, right?"

"Yes," Sunflower says, retracting her hand.  "Congratulations on another kid, by the way."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for it."  He sounds sincere.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you another werewolf child."  She sounds bitter.

Denn looks crestfallen.  "Don't say that.  You're still upset."

"Mhm."

"I was hoping we could kind of just continue on like the whole misunderstanding didn't happen."

"Ha, ha.  I have to go."

Well, maybe there's nothing to do.

At least the house looks better.  Finally.

It doesn't seem like much, but tearing out the old metal sheets and moldy floorboards has done wonders for the place.

No one in the house thinks that the new bathroom wallpaper is a visual improvement, but since it isn't literally rotting off the walls, it gets a pass.

 The new bathroom in the basement, at least, is much more palatable.

And, perhaps most importantly, the kids can sleep in the room on the top floor without risk of inhaling a deadly spore or toxin.

Having a house that isn't on the verge of falling apart or giving one of her children an infection satiates the worst Sunflower's neuroses, and puts her in a more lenient mood.  After several weeks of turning him away at the door, she agrees to let Denn be part of the family again.

"You can visit the kids whenever you like," she tells him.  "Just don't expect them to want to see you all the time.  And don't... act familiar with me."

To her slight surprise, Denn doesn't protest her arrangement, only nods dejectedly.

She doesn't give herself much time to worry about Denn, though.  There's always something about the house that isn't quite right--a leaky showerhead, a burner that won't heat properly, a window with a draft.  Like with the strange science-y contraptions she's in charge of at work, she learns quickly how to take care of things around the house.

But it's never enough.  There's always something wrong.  Clean floorboards and a shiny new Bargain John don't change the fact that the house still, at its core, sucks.

And, permitting Denn to be part of the family isn't the end of the drama.

"Come oooon, Lissie!  Just talk to him!"



"Don't wanna," Elisabeth sniffs petulantly.

"What the heck?  Why not?"

"He smells funny."



Iron Fang motions with uncharacteristic melodrama.  "But can't you see how cool he is?"

"Cool is a relative term," Elisabeth yawns.  Denn glances back and forth between his bickering daughters, bewildered.

"I don't even know what the word relative means!" Iron Fang shouts in exasperation, before storming out the front door.


 
This, Elisabeth realizes, leaves her and her quote-unquote "Werewolf Dad" completely alone.

"Well, since you're already here, you may as well help me with my science homework," she reasons.

"Academics aren't really my forte," Denn replies brightly; "But I can tell you about the time I narrowly escaped capture for supernatural experimentation."

One thrilling story later, Elisabeth finds herself utterly in favor of this whole "dad" thing.

"You were right," she concedes a few days later, when the girls stop by the park after school.  "He's not so bad."

"Told you."  Iron Fang is incapable of taking a win graciously.  "I'm a genius."

"You wish," Elisabeth rolls her eyes good-naturedly.  "Mom said only Charlie passed the tests at the science center."

"Charlie's just a dumb puppy.  How can he be a genius?"

"Mom said we should call him a baby, remember?"

"Well, Dad calls him a pup.  So he's a pup."

"Do you think it really matters?" Elisabeth wonders.  "They basically mean the same thing."

"Yeah, but Dad said that just because someone doesn't present as a werewolf, it doesn't make them not a werewolf.  Even though you're humans, you 'n Charlie still have werewolf blood."

"You're really starting to talk like him," Elisabeth giggles.

"Of course!  We're the only werewolves in the pack.  We have a bond."

"Oh, really?  Prove it."

"Wh--it--it's just a feeling."

"Hmm.  Then I guess I don't believe you."

There are still, however, other members of the household to convince.

"I don't understand why she still doesn't want to talk to me," Denn frets.  He's been staying at the house for a week straight, now, perhaps the most nights he's ever spent with the family at once.  Sleeping in one of the kids' old sleeping bags, of course.  "I apologized, I brought gifts, I watch Charlie while she's at work... I've tried everything!"

 "First of all," Roe begins, "I'm not sure why you're talking to me about this.  Second of all, has it occurred to you that a human isn't going to care about the same things as a werewolf?  I get that this is normal wherever you're from, but for humans, a parent who just pops in and out whenever it suits them is kind of scummy."

Denn looks genuinely taken aback.  "It was never my intention to be a bad--bad anything.  I didn't even realize--"

"I'm not even sure why I'm telling you this," Roe grumbles.  "I guess I don't really care what happens; I just want Mom to be happy."  Denn opens his mouth, but Roe interrupts again.  "It's time for Charlie's nap.  I'll see you around, I guess."

By the time Sunflower comes home from work that day, Denn has made a difficult decision.

"I was doing some totally unprompted thinking today, and I thought... it must've been kind of... not so great, when I left last season.  I didn't mean to leave you all alone with four pups to take care of, it's just that you have so many qualities that remind me of someone who could've been part of my pack growing up--resilient, hardworking, playful, kind... and I assumed you were just like them.  My packmates, I mean.  But you're not, you're human, and for me to not think about that was..." he hangs his head pitifully; "Scummy."

"Oh, Denn," Sunflower sighs, "I don't think you're scummy.  I just wish you would've talked to me more about your life.  I mean, you just come and go with no explanation.  How do I know you don't have five other families in other towns?"

Denn grasps her hand urgently.  "No, Sunny, I would never--"

"I know, I know.  I don't know why I do, but I trust you."  This time, she threads her fingers through his.

Denn swallows.  "A-anyway, I was thinking, and... if it's what you want, I'll stay.  Here, with you, and the pups.  I won't wander anymore."

Sunflower is quiet for a moment; thoughtful.  "But you wouldn't be happy."

"I want you to be happy."

"I will be happy," Sunflower insists, "if you tell me when you're going somewhere.  And where you're going.  And how long you plan to be gone.  Maybe it's not normal for humans, but I'm okay with how we've built our family.  But I would appreciate the stability of human-style communication."

A wave of visible relief washes over Denn; he gives a lopsided smile, eyes glowing happily.  Then, with a bold peck on her cheek: "Human-style communication.  Got it."

With him and Sunflower officially back together (were they even broken up?  Denn isn't sure, but it kind of felt like it), there's only one family member left to win over.

Easy as pie.

☾

Misc: A short chapter, since this was basically just the leftovers I trimmed from the previous one.  I wasn't expecting Denn's forgiveness and reintegration into the family to get its own chapter, but once I started writing it, it felt weird to gloss over (at least, gloss over any more than I did).  Since I write my sims largely within the "rules" of the game universe, as opposed to real life, it doesn't make sense to linger on any one plot point for very long.  So, I'm satisfied with the pacing of things.

Oh, and just for the record, Denn has never actually been a playable member of the household at any point in the game, with the exception of when I had to briefly cheat him into the house to make him and Sunflower have kids.  I always made sure he never did anything productive during those times.