The Whittingtons

Much too soon for Marian’s liking, it’s Jacob’s birthday yet again. She heads to the consignment store to pick up a present for him then heads home to throw him a party. It’s only a three person party with Dustin as the only guest, but it’s a party nonetheless. 

Jacob comes home from his first day of school and Marian leads Mocha out for a ride in the rain after work. She leads Mocha back to the stall before heading inside and calling up the adoption office: time for another impulse pet adoption, this time of a male cat for Smokey. It turns out horse and cat doesn’t real mix well and Smokey is just as lonely as she was before Mocha joined the household. Time to fix that.

The adoption agent brings home Poppins Whittington and Smokey and Poppins fall in cat love--the two are soon expecting a litter of kittens!

It’s Snowflake Day! Marian throws a party and exchanges a kiss with Holly under some cheekily placed mistletoe by the front door. The Gift Giving party ends with us receiving an easel, sparking Marian’s interest once more in painting. She’d left her old easel at her old home and thus she sets this one up in her bedroom.

It pays off! When she heads back to work on Friday, she earns a raise and a promotion, meaning a shiny new outfit for her to wear as she rides Mocha and trains her at jumping and racing. Mocha’s getting good, too. Maybe one day they can enter a competition... 

Marian asks Holly out on a date again the following day and they spend it at the park once more on the final day of the Winter Festival.

They end their second date by taking a greeting card photo that Marian proudly displays in her room, the one with Dustin given to Jacob for him to have a picture of both of his parents.

Coming home, Marian dedicates some time to her boy. It’s hard to believe it, but it’s already closing in on his birthday, and so she finally finishes teaching little Jacob how to walk and talk, relieved that she taught him to potty first. She is one proud mummy as she watches him walk to his building blocks for some fun.

Sitting down at the dining table after putting Jacob to bed, Marian thinks of Holly. She feels so much for the woman, so much more than she thought she could ever feel, and she wants her to know. She decides to write it all down and send it to her, maybe stalling because she’s nervous, but definitely hopeful that maybe, just maybe, Holly feels the same... 

When Marian gets back home from her date with Holly, she makes a call. She’s made a decision: however wrong their relationship was, she wants Jacob’s father to be part of his life; she doesn’t want her son to feel like he’s missing out on anything, least of all the love and attention of both his parents, just because of her bad decisions. Thankfully, Dustin is willing. He agrees to the father-son playdate.

Marian’s nervous when Dustin arrives, but it’s for nothing. Father and son bond quickly even though Dustin had torn Jacob away from his beloved building blocks. Marian watches on with a smile. Life is pretty good right now.

Marian stares at the image on her online dating profile, those familiar butterflies coming back to haunt her. Biting the bullet, she clicks message and types something short, reaching out to Holly and hoping for the best.

The leap of faith lands her a date and they meet up at the park, having some fun in the snow, before rushing into the warm restaurant across the road, seeking refuge from the cold. Marian learns that Holly has a baby sister named Evelyn and that she’s the only reason why she feels guilty about leaving home the second that she could. She doesn’t want Evelyn to fall into the trap of her parents bad decisions, but she can’t bring herself to move back into that prison just to keep her safe from it.

Outside the restaurant, Marian smiles as she holds out a bouquet of precious pink flowers. This is her second chance at love, and by the way Holly’s eyes pop wide open at the surprise in delight, she’s doing right in trying to make the most of it. 

They exchange their first kiss, just a shy peck, and part ways as girlfriend and girlfriend.

It’s Jacob’s birthday! Marian heads down to the supermarket to grab a birthday cake, bringing her birthday boy with her. When they get back home, she sets the cake up on the kitchen counter and holds her baby, helping him blow out the candles.

Jacob ages up and he’s adorable! Marian sets him down in the high chair. He can’t eat any of his cake, but she sure loves the baby food that she gives him!

A little while later and it’s time for bed. He’s a big boy now which means his own bedroom, so his crib has been moved to the second room and he’s quickly fast asleep. It’s cold enough that Marian lights the fireplace but it’s a bad decision! Seconds later, with her baby still sleeping, a fire breaks out that Marian struggles to put out. 

Well, she can’t leave her son alone in his new room now! She sets down a new rug and sits back in the rocking chair, rocking away her anxiety and falling asleep, watching over her son... 

“Wish me good luck, Mocha. It’s my first day back...”

Maternity leave only lasts so long and with Marian settled into parenthood, she heads back to work at the Police Station. It’s nice to be back after so long away, but she’s itching to get back to her baby boy, Smokey, and Mocha. In another life, she may have been a horsewoman, but that’s not her dream in this life.

She heads to the bookstore after work and encounters Parker Langerak. She feels the pettiness and anger and old hurt rise up, but she beats it back and after polite hellos are exchanged, they go their separate ways.

She stops off at the restaurant, and there she sees someone that she’s never seen before. Her name is Holly Alto, the name ringing a bell. She recalls the stories she’s heard from Blair and the other gossips of the town... Holly Alto, daughter of Vita and Nick, two criminals in their own rights that the police station has been keeping tabs on since before her time in Sunset Valley, first boyfriend Ethan Bunch... first heartbreak, Ethan Bunch. She’s a caged bird finally set free.

She’s beautiful, enchanting. They have so much in common--they both love pop, their both artistic souls... 

Marian feels butterflies in her stomach as Holly leans in close, but she makes her excuses and gets out of there, going home to her baby boy.

He has a wife.

Marian is fuming. Sitting in the dark on her first night in her new home, Marian can’t believe she was so stupid. Of course he’s married. All of the puzzle pieces fall into place to form an ugly picture: she’s the other woman, and this baby is a mistake in Dustin’s eyes.

They were never official, but their relationship ends that night and Marian goes to bed. It looks like she’ll be weathering this pregnancy alone.

Time flies by, winter falls upon Sunset Valley.

She moves on. She ignores the pain and anger that blooms as she hears whispers of a new baby for Dustin and Iliana Langerak, due just after her baby with him. She prepares the nook in her master bedroom for her first child.

Her best friend, Blair Wainwright, invites her over for an oddly timed swimsuit party where she congratulations her on her pregnancy. She’s brimming with excitement as she talks about the preparations and due date, finally feeling like she can do this by herself.

It’s a cold, snowy night when she heads to the hospital and gives birth to perfect little Jacob Whittington. He’s blond like his father, but even so small, he looks like her. She invites Dustin Langerak to meet his son, and he brings his two year old daughter. He doesn’t stay for long.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, baby boy...”

She’s pregnant.

She knows that now. They’ve only woohooed the once, but Marian’s missed a period and she’s throwing up and she knows what this means. She’s having a baby with a man that’s hiding something.

Marian knows what she has to do. She heads to the Doo Peas Corporate Towers after work, bites the bullet, and heads inside. She’s after a loan, a large one, eyeing a property up in the mountains that someone else will snap up if she doesn’t hurry. It’s two bedrooms, with training paddocks and a stable that will have Mocha feeling like a queen.

Somehow, she gets that loan. The paperwork for her new home is put through as soon as she confirms it and she moves to her new home, saying goodbye to the quaint loner’s place that she’d begun her life in this town in. That will always be her first home, but it’s not the home for a family. For a baby.

She drives away feeling both heavy hearted and light... 

Marian gets cracking on moving on up in the Law Enforcement, but she’s hampered by bouts of nausea. She thinks it’s just nervousness about her situation. She can scarcely afford her bills, to run her car, and to keep the two animals she adores. She manages to scrounge up enough money for a riding lesson, knowing that Mocha needs the exercise. With no training paddocks, the least she can do is go for a ride on the old girl when she gets home from work...

She finally gets a much needed promotion, and decides to celebrate. She and Dustin have been talking, but they haven’t seen each other again. She meets up with him for a date, but he has to leave early before they can even finish eating, feeling “tired.” 

Marian is starting to get suspicious, and the lead in her stomach doesn’t feel good. She drives home in her trusty dusty blue Sloppy Jalopy, sits outside at her single-chair table, all alone and really feeling it, as she finishes a meal that she ends up throwing up before bed... 

Marian wakes up the next morning feeling like a new woman. She got the guy! Waking up to a sweet text makes her feel better about the fact that she woke up alone.

Nothing can take her down! Not even burning her breakfast. The day speeds by and she returns home to a (yet again) yowling Smokey, giving her all the love and attention she can, neglecting the work she needs to do to make her cat feel better. She looks around as she eats dinner, and makes a probably (definitely) impulsive decision.

She wants a horse!

This isn’t exactly a new want of hers, but it’s not one she’d thought she’d fulfill so soon. Though, yes, she is an animal lover, she doesn’t have the first clue as to how to look after a horse in reality. But still, she’s a fast learner--she can learn, right? It should be easy!

After purchasing and setting up what she needs--namely a stall and a huge ball of hay--she adopts an adorable horse that she names Mocha, a gorgeous chocolate brown with grey mane and tail. She’s quiet but quite the piggy - she’ll fit right in!

A few hours later she discovers her error: looking after a horse is not easy. Her home is not fenced in and with a wild storm outside, Marian is woken up by heartbreaking panicked whinnying. The lightning has spooked Mocha, and Marian does her best to calm her down, but there’s little she can do when the ‘shelter’ she has for her horse is outside in the midst of the thunderstorm.

It might be time to find a new home... not that she can afford it.

Marian sets back to work after that confusing encounter. She tries online dating again, but no one really jumps out at her. Her thoughts are still back on Dustin, weird as he was. She decides that if they can’t be something maybe they could just be friends.

But then they meet again at the restaurant and it’s the same thing. They’re obviously attracted to one another, but if they start flirting, he leans in and then literally runs away. She doesn’t understand.

Their relationship does blossom, despite the awkward tension, and her crush only grows. When he invites her to the pool of all places, she jumps at the chance to see him. He seems a little more receptive when she tries one more time to flirt with him, but there’s tension--and she realises what it is! 

“Why don’t we go somewhere else? Somewhere... a little more private?”

The relief he shows should be a red flag.

They return to where they met and tonight it’s deserted. He finally seems comfortable around her, that charm she recognised in full force. She makes them some drinks, and takes her chance...

He smiles.

“Let’s get out of here...”

By the end of the week, Marian is itching to let loose and have a little fun. She’s worked hard enough to end her first week of work with another promotion, so she can’t really be faulted for wanting to celebrate a little, right?

Making her way up the Sunset Mountains to Varg’s Tavern, the place seems lively--for being the only source of more adult entertainment in town. It’s more laid back, with a foosball table she doesn’t touch and a DIY bar upstairs. Making herself a drink, she looks up to see someone she vaguely recalls on the dating website and makes her way over to introduce herself. They hit it off, and Marian finds herself more than interested, reading the signs to see that maybe he is, too. He’s buff, funny, and though a little older that only seems to add to the charm... she tries her hand at flirting as a lady walks up the stairs, but he seems to lose interest altogether... 

Embarrassed, Marian makes her way home alone and commiserates with Smokey.

After a wonderful first day of work that ends with a promotion, Marian hits up her boss, Blair Wainwright, to celebrate and they head over to the Summer Festival for some fun. It’s the start of what will become a beautiful friendship... 

Marian Whittington is new to Sunset Valley, leaving the past behind her as she tries to make a life for herself here in this quaint town by the water. How will it pan out for her? She’s young and maybe a little dumb... let’s hope she makes the most of her opportunities...

Marian finds a cute, outdoorsy home for herself and her cat, Smokey, with plenty of space for Smokey to roam. It’s gorgeous, with an idyllic lake complete with fish, not that Marian is much for fishing.

Her dream is to work as a DNA Profiler in Law Enforcement, and thus she heads down to check if there are any available jobs. Luck strikes! 

Knowing that if she wants to get ahead, she’ll need plenty of logic and painting skill, she takes a class in both, then stops off at the store to get some groceries. Back at home, she starts a dating profile and messages a few sims but no one seems to really get her attention.