1.8 New Year, New Wife?

Soon New Year’s Day was upon them, and spring was right around the corner. The couple started the holiday by decorating the outside of the house and making resolutions to improve their skills. Gwen chose to improve her cooking and Mark chose painting. They wanted to go to San Myshuno to see if they could find a produce stall to buy Gwen some carrots. Afterwards they were going to watch the count down to midnight in a bar or lounge somewhere.

Luckily there was a produce stall in the Arts Quarter, which was the first place in San Myshuno they went. Gwen haggled with the shopkeeper and was able to get 25% off her purchase. She bought 10 carrots and she tried to think about what she would prepare them with.

After shopping a little around the city, they decided to head to Del Sol Valley to go to the bar where they first met. Starlight Cinema had a great tv to watch the countdown and they could dance for a while to celebrate before midnight. Feeling inspired by the festive atmosphere and the coming of a new year and a new baby, Mark decided to express his love to Gwen and bind their family closer together.

After dancing in the bar for a while and celebrating the New Year’s spirit, he walked Gwen down to the beautiful waterfall feature in Starlight Boulevard Square at sunset. He knelt down before Gwen and took the ring out of his pocket where it had been weighing him down all day.

Gwen however was distracted by a local B-Lister celebrity Dustin Broke. He was a nobody in Mark’s opinion, but he seemed really interested in Mark’s marriage proposal for some reason. He was standing really closed to them, once Mark was on one knee, and Gwen’s expression when he offered her the ring was not what Mark expected. Gwen looked sadly down at Mark, kneeling before her and shook her head, pushing Marks hands away.

Mark couldn’t understand what had just happened, everything was going so well. They already had a daughter together why would Gwen refuse him like that. He felt so rejected and also embarrassed to have all of that happen in front of even a B-Lister celebrity like Dustin Broke. Dejectedly he wondered if it was all somehow Dustin’s fault, after all Gwen really did seem distracted by him and Dustin seemed way to interested in what was going on between two sims he had never met. Mark trudged back into the bar and ordered his favorite drink from the bartender. He stared sadly into his drink and wondered how it could all go so wrong.

After Mark’s attempted proposal, Gwen fled to the bathroom of the Starlight Cinema. She felt the bile rising in her throat and quickly pulled her hair back with one hand while reaching towards the toilet with the other. She heaved and all her lunch came rushing up in to the toilet. Gwen stumbled over to the sink, she cupped her hands together under the stream of water, raising them to her mouth and rinsing the sour taste out of her mouth.

Gwen wiped her mouth and stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, she didn’t know what had come over her when Mark proposed but something deep inside her told her it was the wrong moment. Maybe it was the Love Guru’s words whispering in the back of her mind, “your romantic future is bleak”. Maybe it was the shock of being put on the spot and having someone invade their personal space in such a way. Either way Gwen felt terrible for hurting Mark, she knew how deep his love ran and that by rejecting him she had crushed his heart. She just knew with certainty that it wasn’t the right time, maybe it never would be for them.

The evening was moving forward, even if Gwen and Mark were frozen in the emotional upheaval the proposal had created. They stayed away from each other for the rest of the night, Mark nursing drinks at the bar and Gwen distractedly watching tv on the other side of the venue. They were both mulling over what happened and their mutual feelings. Before they knew it a crowd had gathered around the tv area to watch the count down to midnight. Both of them had forgotten it was even New Year’s Eve. Mark decided to join Gwen at the tv as this was their original plan for the night before things had gone so wrong. Mark knew he still loved Gwen and their expanding family and wanted to be part of their lives no matter what. Whether or not that was something Gwen wanted, well that was going to be up to her.

Soon the midnight hour was upon them, the fireworks exploded in the night sky and the confetti rained down around them. It was a new year for the Perffaith family, unlike tradition Mark did not attempt to kiss Gwen at midnight, instead they both chose to take pictures on their phones to memorialize their first New Year. Mark hoped that the New Year would bring
positivity and love for him and his family. Gwen on the other hand, only wished that she could figure out what her heart truly wanted.

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A/N: I had a really hard time writing this chapter because I was so shocked by what happened. I did NOT plan for Gwen to reject Mark when he proposed. They were both in flirty moods and had full friendship and love bars with each other. I looked afterwards at their relationship panel and for some reason they don’t know anything about each other, gotta fix that. Also Dustin Broke, little jerk that he is, did get all up in their business during the proposal and that did kinda seem awkward. Oh also Mark’s favorite drink is Minty Fresh Pet Concoction. I didn’t even know that was a thing and SIMS drink it, weirder stories I guess. It gives a +1 uncomfortable moodlet that says “Oh…No…Nope! Mark had a taste of a drink made for his pet. It was not good at all”. Turns out its a pet drink, really weirder stories!

Scoring:

• Family: 1/10
• Creative: 0/10
• Fortune: 0/10
• Love:1/10
• Knowledge: 0/10
• Athletic: 0/10
• Nature: 0/10
• Food: 0/10
• Popularity: 0/10
• Deviance: 0/10
• Bonus 1/6
• Penalties:
  • Total Points: 3/107