39. IT WILL GET BETTER

January 28, 2026

Laura hadn’t felt like herself for a long time after the recent events and the tragic deaths of their friends. It hit her hard and affected the way she behaved. With anxiety, she noticed mean streaks and nasty behavior in herself. This showed especially clearly during her recent clash with Ollie.

However, regular therapy sessions finally started to pay off, and Laura turned away from being mean. Though the past couldn’t be undone and her bond with Ollie seemed broken, at least there were no misunderstandings left between her and Bastian.

Olimpia went to the ranch and still wasn’t talking to Bas, who had to swallow the bitter pill of another parenting failure. Sofia seemed to be handling things with Ollie better. He should really pull himself together and improve, because so far he hadn’t exactly shined as a father. And now he had three kids.

Little Cyp turned out to be a very demanding baby. He didn’t want to sleep in the baby carrier either. Laura couldn’t do anything, every moment she had to take him out of the carrier and put him back in again. So even though Bas was actually home more now and helping more, they still decided to hire a babysitter.

Tess, that was the name of the babysitter, didn’t win over little Nettie’s heart.

Tess: Come on, little one, I’ll put you to sleep.

Nettie: No! Tess bad. Nettie wants Ollie! Where is Ollie?

Laura: Sweetheart, Ollie has gone away for a while. Can Tess take care of you a bit?

Nettie: Nettie not like it. Nettie wants mommy.

Laura: All right then.

Tess didn’t do particularly well taking care of little Cyprian either. Though to give her credit for one thing, Cyp finally fell asleep.

What really crossed the line, however, was Tess’s behavior toward Bastian. Laura firmly thanked Tess and decided that they would manage without a nanny.

Bas: Thanks for helping, Rob, I don’t know what we’d do without you.

Rob: We’re all in this together. But you need to install some kind of upgrade for me. And maybe you could install some kind of upgrade for him too?

So the family got a new simkatu mod, following the example of @chaoticsimmer.bsky.social.

Other dramas started instead. Nettie turned out to be a bit of an attention-seeker too, and she felt hurt that mom was taking care of Cyp.

Laura: I can see that you’re sad, sweetheart. You see, your brother is very small and needs a bit more care than you. How about helping me a little and teaching him how to use his toys?

The idea worked, and Cyp, despite being irritated at first that Nettie dared to play with his toys, eventually cheered up and developed true love and admiration for his older sister.

But the best idea turned out to be installing the Robonanny module in Rob. Although they still had to be careful not to let him run out of power too quickly.

Laura: That upgrade for Rob was a great idea. We finally have a bit of time for ourselves.

Bas: I could have thought of that sooner. Lately, thinking in general hasn’t been my strong suit. I’m sorry.

Laura: You have nothing to apologize for. We’re all overloaded and stressed.

Bas: I keep thinking about Ollie, how she left without saying goodbye and still hasn’t reached out.

Laura: That’s partly my fault too. I wasn’t myself, I reacted badly to her outburst. I ignored her needs, even though she was a huge help to me.

Bas: We both ignored her needs.

Laura: But I made things worse. I should have known better.

Bas: That’s not your role, I’m her parent. Now I finally understand the saying, “small child, small problem; big child, big problem.” Ollie has such a rebellious style, and I just can’t handle it at all.

Bas: On top of that, I wasn’t there for you when you needed it.

Laura: Hey, let’s not go back to that, we’ve already talked it through. The most important thing is that you’re here now. But you can’t forget that you have an older daughter who needs you too.

Bas: It doesn’t look like she needs me.

Bas: Maybe she really is better off with Sofia.

Laura: Maybe. Maybe all those house changes didn’t work well for her. But that doesn’t mean you should give up. You have to talk to her.

Bas: But she doesn’t want to. What am I supposed to do?

Laura: Then you keep trying until it works.

Laura: And I’ll support you whatever comes. Because we’re a family, and family supports each other, even in the hardest moments.

Laura: We’ll manage. With everything. You’ll see.

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love
When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love

Make You Feel My Love - Adele

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IzKueQ2ZxY