***A bit wordy to begin with but there's a story to tell
and I don't have the pix to do that for me.
As you already know, Nicole visited Ruby in the hospital after her surgery.
And you're probably wondering just HOW she found out Ruby was there.
Well, it was Darren, (Dominic's dad), that told her.
Not long after Nicole moved into Augusta Maxwell's house she ran into Darren at the grocery store. AND she was pregnant with Ariel at the time so you can imagine how awkward that unexpected meeting was. Nicole's first reaction was to run and hide but the way they met up, literally ramming their shopping carts into one another in the cookie and candy isle, (they both have an insatiable sweet tooth), there was no where to run. Guess they could have just acted like they didn't see each other, which crossed Nicole's mind as a viable option but Darren took the high road and initiated a conversation with her.
Of course it was (very) strained at first, especially with Nicole so obviously pregnant but Darren was able to look beyond that and he genuinely wanted to reconnect with Nicole in a positive way, mainly for the sake of Dominic.
Their conversation went so well inside the store they made plans to go out for ice cream after they'd finished their shopping. And that's what they did. Most people go out and have coffee to talk but Nicole and Darren, from day one, loved going out for ice cream, neither of them like coffee.
Their time together was time well spent -
Darren was almost grateful towards Nicole for everything that happened between them as it made him take a long hard look at himself and make a move he'd been hiding from all his life and that was to come out of the closet and live in the open as a gay Sim.
He'd met a wonderful man, fell in love and was living the life he'd only been able to dream about, with the exception of his concerns regarding Dominic. He was very worried about his son and Nicole told Darren she was too.
They spent the majority of their time together talking about Dominic and his troubles, unable to come up with any tangible solutions in how to help him or how to get him to forgive Nicole for everything that happened with Danielle. Darren actually see's Danielle all the time, kinda like her "other dad" and it works out very well. He also reprimanded Nicole for staying away from her daughter, prompting her to give up hiding and get back to being a positive part of her life.
Nicole knew Darren was right but she couldn't bring herself to do what he was urging her to do. And she was quite truthful and blunt in telling him that. If anything, Darren is one loyal, trustworthy Sim. He gave Nicole his solemn promise to keep it under wraps that the two of them had reconnected but he also warned her if things got out of hand or desperate with Dominic he would do anything he had to in order to help his son and if that mean blowing Nicole's cover, then so be it. And the same went in regard to Danielle as well.
The two of them left each other as "new" friends that night.
As a matter of fact they got into a habit of sharing in some very long chats on the phone in the days that followed. He even came over and saw Ariel when she was born. So, from the time Nicole moved into her house she was able to keep tabs on her family by way of Darren.
He was the one who called and told her Ruby was in the hospital and he was also the one who told her that her mother had passed away. He didn't feel calling with news like that was appropriate so went to her house and gave her the news in person. It was a good decision on Darren's part, she broke down as severely as Nick did and she needed a friend to stay with her for awhile, which Darren did.
Quite a few things had happend between the time Nicole and Darren ran into each other at the grocery store and the day Darren had to give Nicole the devastating news that her mother had died.
For one, Ariel was a KID now!
It was just Nicole and Ariel when she toddlered up!
And it was just her and Ariel when she poofed into a kid too.
It's the way Nicole wanted it to be.....
Nicole didn't care much for the ponytail.
She almost gave her pigtails but liked this style on her daughter better.
Nicole and Ariel are VERY close.
And Nicole found herself doing something that Ruby did with her -
getting up at the butt crack of dawn to go jogging.
There were other positive things taking place in Nicole's life
leading up to the tragic day Ruby passed away.
One of them was that Nicole's hobby of gourmet cooking
turned into a very successful blog that she was able to generate an income from.
She also found that when she devoted herself 100% to being a parent
it gave her a joy she'd never experienced before.
Yes, she'd been a good mother to Dominic but she didn't
commit herself to her role as "Mom" like was now with Ariel.
It gave her an urge to have another child but no way was
she ready for everything that goes along with that,
as in having a man in her life, so she decided to adopt a child.
Meet Alex!!
Alex and Nicole bonded instantly!
After a short time of tossing the football
Nicole recognized right off that Alex needed glasses
She acted on getting those for him right away -
along with a little make-over.
So there she was, the mother of four children -
two that she was fiercely devoted to on a daily basis and two not a part of her daily life at all. It was very bittersweet for her and a day didn't go by that she didn't want to have Dominic and Danielle in her life. She knew she had to make some changes, serious, drastic changes to keep on the positive path in order for that to be a reality some day.
She thought on it for a bit, even got Darren's input on it, and then decided to enter the world of Nursing. She found a nursing position right away but there was one small drawback, the hours she would be working were from 3pm to midnight.
No way was she going to employ one of those useless Pleasantview Nannies and being she was living such a hidden life, there was no one to ask to come over and stay with Ariel and Alex. She was about to turn down the job when Ariel came up with an idea - why not adopt another child, a teenager?
Of course that was something she had to seriously think about -
she didn't want to be impulsive, there was a lot to consider when it came to raising a teenager and plus, she needed that teen to watch over her two other children at night. It was something she felt very uneasy about. She turned to Darren, like she always does now, and asked him what he thought.
Well, turns out Darren knew of an orphanage, (not in Pleasantview, but on one of the islands where he'd worked as a tour guide), that was home to orphaned girls and they had a stellar reputation in caring for the girls in an exemplary manner, providing excellent educations and making it a top priority to equip the girls with a keen sense of self confidence, discipline and grace. He told Nicole he'd call the orphanage and get back to her.
Two days later a meeting was set up between the two coordinators of the orphanage, (an elder married couple), and Nicole, which Darren also went along after Nicole begged him to be there with her.
Best thing about it, the coordinators came to them - they didn't have to travel all the way to the island! After their meeting and after the coordinators made a visit to Nicole's home she understood why they came to her as opposed to her going to them. They wanted to check out the environment that Nicole had to offer.
And they liked what they saw and Nicole was also very impressed with the teenage girl that the orphanage coordinators had in mind for her - quite the Knowledge Sim she was and with a solid plan for her future.
Within a week Nicole was the mother of a brand new teenager!
Meet Ally!
So yeah, there were a LOT of changes that had taken place in Nicole's life and they were all positive ones.
Ariel, Alex and Ally got along wonderfully, it was almost too good to be true.
Nicole started her new job in nursing and yes, it was a challenge but she really liked it.
Ally did a super job watching over Ariel and Alex at night and always made sure all of them got their homework done.
Darren couldn't tell her enough that she needed to share how good everything was with her family and friends. None of them had any idea that she was doing so well and he also pointed out to her being they didn't have a clue as to what she was up to they were probably thinking the worst, (and she didn't deserve that!).
Everything Darren was telling her made perfect sense, but she still refused to let anyone but him know where she was or what she was doing. He didn't like it but he kept his promise to her, not telling anyone her secrets.
The day he had to go over and tell her Ruby died was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do, aside from having to tell Dominic the same thing.
So much changed after that day for so many.
In another post,....