Enough


Florence Delarosa Green is 57; Ben Green is 74.

April 2025
Last update here.


Florence closed her eyes and leaned back in her deckchair, still unable to quite grasp where she was.


Takemizu Village.  On her honeymoon.

As remarkable as the location itself was for someone who'd almost never left Bluewater Village, the fact that it was her honeymoon was the part that she really couldn't grasp.  Not at her age.  Not when she'd long since given up on such possibilities.

Shee had been the only child of older parents, who adored her.  But by the time she was in her late teens, they were becoming increasingly frail and it fell increasingly on Florence to care for the cottage and garden, and eventually, to take over the running of the flower shop.  It was a lot of work for a young girl, and at first friends had said that she needed to 'live her own life', that she encourage her parents to sell the business and the cottage, and move into a retirement home.  

But they didn't understand that this was her own life - she loved her parents as much as they loved her, and any other option but sticking by them was unthinkable to her.  So, gradually, the friends had fallen away, but Florence barely noticed.  She had her parents, and their friends, to provide company and conversation, and the fact that she hardly knew anyone in her own age group didn't seem important.  Both parents had passed away, within a short time of each other, when she was in her mid-thirties.  

After they were gone, she'd stayed at the cottage and ran the shop. It was a solitary existence, but it was enough.  She had no regrets.  On the contrary, she believed she'd been blessed with loving parents, a beautiful garden, plenty of company - if not close friendship - with the customers at the shop, and hobbies and interests that filled her time.  As for romance, there had been a couple of relationships, but nothing serious enough to regret that it hadn't worked out.  She'd just accepted that marriage was something that wasn't meant to be for her.  Until Ben Green walked into the shop.  

Ironically, he'd been buying flowers for his wife's grave.  It wasn't exactly love at first sight, but whatever he had felt at first sight, it was enough to keep him coming back over and over, and their relationship had deepened over the year that followed.



She watched him, poised to dive into the pool.  A former sportsman, he was still fit and athletic in his 70's.  And they might have a lot of other things in common, but they were polar opposites in that regard.  He could spend all day swimming lengths of the pool, but Florence was content with a deckchair and a drink. 

The wedding had been perfect.  They'd had a small ceremony at the cottage - Ben was wealthy enough to hire just about any venue she could choose, but Florence just couldn't imagine being married anywhere else.




His close family had been their only guests.




Ben climbed out of the pool, and relaxed back into the chair next to her.  "This is so perfect... " he sighed, closing his eyes.


Perfect?  It all seemed perfect, Florence thought - but if she were completely honest, it wasn't. There was just this one thing, an old want awakened, that she couldn't shake off.

She did her best to push it out of her mind, and enjoy her honeymoon.  It actually wasn't hard, at least for a short periods of time.  There were just so many new things to see and do here...






There were new things to discover about her husband, too... like the fact that he liked to shower and dress the minute he got out of bed, whereas she was happy to spend half the morning in her pyjamas.


... or that if he was feeling affectionate, he didn't care where they were or what anyone else thought.


... not that she minded any of that.  Somehow, it only made her love him more.

Yes, things would have been perfect... except......


It was ironic - the one thing that should have completed her contentment, had actually taken it away.  She could have honestly said that she had enough.  There was nothing she longed for, before Ben walked into the shop.  Not that she would change things - having Ben made it worthhwile.  And, maybe... maybe she could have both.  It all depended on him, and she had no idea how he'd react if she told him.  But you only get one life, she realised, and and if she didn't try, she'd always regret it.
----

They were eating dinner, a few days after arriving home when Florence finally let out what was on her mind.


"Ben, I want a child.  I want to be a mother."
He stopped eating and stared at her, speechless.  At their ages, they'd never even bought up the subject of parenthood. He struggled to shake off his shock and listen to what she was saying.
"I thought about having a child, years ago... I looked seriously into adoption, but in the end I decided I didn't want to be a single parent.  With the shop and everything, I wouldn't be able to give the child the time it deserved.  But now we're married, that changes everything."

"This is what's been bothering you, isn't it?"
"You knew?"
"I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to push you.  I figured you'd tell me if you needed to.  But I never imagined something like this."
"I just can't stop thinking about it, now that I have a husband."


"Florence, I hope to be around a good many years but, to be blunt, at my age its entirely possible that you might not have a husband for long..."
"I know that," she said. "I think that's all the more reason to want a child.  I want a part of you that I can keep when you're gone."
"An adopted child won't be a part of me."
"You know what I mean.  I've heard you talk about your sons, and you can't tell me that Alvin isn't as much a a part of Marisa as Jamie is."

She was right, of course, and it made him think of Marisa, only a few years younger than Florence was now, and how much she'd wanted a second child.  They'd never planned to have children at all.  Jamie had been a surprise, and it had been entirely Marisa's idea to adopt Alvin years later.  Looking back, she was so grateful that they had both boys, more than ever now that Marisa was gone.  Grateful that he had a piece of her that he could keep.

But this was different, he reminded himself.  The situation with Florence was different..  "You know, if we adopt now, there is every likelihood you could end up raising a teenager, in your 70's, alone."


"Not if we adopt a teenager... or, at least, an older child.  There are more older children in need of homes than little ones... at least, that's what they told me when I looked into it years ago."
"What about the child?  How do you think they'll feel about having parents our age?"
She shrugged.  "I had older parents."
"Not as old as we are!"

"It doesn't matter," she said, getting up and collecting their empty plates.  "It was just an idea... I can see that you're completely against it"


"Florence, no... I'm not completely against it, but I do have some major reservations.  I need to think about it a bit more... I mean, I was expecting a quiet retirement here with you... I certainly wasn't expecting to be a parent again.  Just give me some time, ok?"


---

Several days passed before Ben brought the subject up again.  "I've made it no secret that I have reservations about this," he started.  Florence braced herself for disappointment, but he went on, "I want to suggest a compromise."


"What do you mean?"
"We register as foster parents.  My sister and her husband fostered children for many years, some stayed for just for a short term, others for years."


"But I - "
"No, let me finish.  There's a lot that can go wrong with an adoption, for a lot of reasons... all the more so with an older child who possibly comes from a troubled background anyway.  At least by fostering, if things go terribly wrong, there is the option to find a more suitable home for the child."
"You mean send them away if they don't - "


"For their sake Florence.  No one can be the perfect parent to every child, and they might suit something we don't have... like... a home with other children, for example.  We might not realise that until they've experienced being an only child.  With fostering, we still have the opportunity to do what's best for the child, even if what's best isn't us.  And if it is us, if we do develop that kind of relationship with a foster child, there is often the option of adoption in many cases. That's how my sister came to have her younger daughter."
"So... what you're talking about is a trial run?"


"If you want to think about it that way, then, yes... something this big deserves a trial run, for us and the child.  I know it's not what you wanted me to say, but I hope it's enough."


"It is," she said.  "It's more than enough."

----

I really never planned for these guys to have a child, but Florence rolled a baby want at the wedding that just wouldn't roll away.  It was there the whole honeymoon, and is still there now that they're back home - I figured it must be bugging her big-time.  It's my fault she's too old to have a baby, but I didn't want the age gap between her and Ben to be too huge...  so I figured I kind of owe her a kid, but like Ben, I have some reservations about the whole idea.  

The fostering idea gives me an out if I decide they work better as just a couple, but it means she's still in with a chance of having her want fulfilled (I have a hack that allows adoption to fulfill the have a baby want and vice versa).  And, it solves another problem I had... I used to have a couple who would 'foster' townie kids who became playable (through BFF relationships with playable kids), but they're gone now  I haven't needed a replacement for a while, but I think soon I will.  

I had Kyle and Willow in mind at one point but I think that, given his recent history, it wouldn't realistically happen.  Bonus = the townie kid I'm thinking of is friends with a playable child who lives in Bluewater, so it makes sense, as they'd be at the same school.  If the kid becomes BFFs with both Florence and Ben, they adopt.

Wedding outtakes:


Serdar and Elle, distracted by random stray dog, miss the big moment.


Mutual alter swoon.


*shudder*

And, sheesh, Jamie, would it kill you to smile on any of the wedding pictures??  I actually didn't do that, despite having written him as disapproving of the wedding.  He just wouldn't hold a smile, even with a face overlay.


I'm not really happy with the picture Ben & Florence with his kids and their families.  I wanted to take another one, on the bridge like the other pictures, but the game crashed and I didn't want to have to invite back all those sims for one picture.  


The one with Ben and Serdar and their wives made me go awww - the brothers are the last surviving 'children' of the first TS2 family I ever created.. we have a lot of history together :)

Comments

  1. Awww, I really like all the wedding pictures! It was lovely and it's sweet that Florence has finally found someone, at 57.

    Anyway, I'm interested to see how this fostering thing works out for Ben and Florence. I think it's a great compromise for an older couple. I did a fostering arrangement in Sullivan but Tate and Zelda never actually adopted Sylvia - she just lived with them until Rose and Joanna adopted her.

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  2. Wow, that last picture is really creepy! My sims do that allt the time too, and at the worst moments!

    I loved the wedding pictures. It's nice that they found happiness with eachother later in life. I hope hise family will be able to accept it too.
    I think it's understandable that Florence wants a child, but I can understand Ben as well. I like the fostering thing, I hope it works out for them.

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  3. I have the same concerns about adopting a child when they're over 50. Yikes. I can't wait to see what you do in terms of the fostering and if they'll adopt the child or not.

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  4. Thanks for the comments - I really enjoyed taking the wedding pictures, too. Am looking forward to playing Helen's wedding, which will be a much bigger event (translation: Great fun even though my game will crash many times :) ).

    Carla, I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes, too - like I said, I haven't decided the outcome yet, but it will be fun to play and see what happens.

    Tanja, Ben's younger son seems ok with the marriage, but Jamie still doesn't like Florence much. I'm now thinking about how he'll react to the fostering/adoption thing.

    Apple, I've had two couples in their 50's adopt, and it always feels like a gamble when you don't know how many elder years the parents will get. In both cases, the mother died when the child was still relatively young (late teens/early 20's), but both fathers lived considerably longer.


    At least this time I have the advantage of knowing how much time Ben has left, but it also means that I'll probably never play them as a retired couple alone. So, yeah, still deciding :)

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  5. I just caught up with your blog, and I really like it. Your stories have so much detail and all your characters have a history. It's very interesting to read about.
    I hope Ben and Florence are happy together. The foster care is a great idea, because pregnancy definitely is not.
    Great update!:)

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  6. I really like that you are doing fostering with them, and how you decided if they will adopt! Looking forward to seeing who this child may be!! I think it's a good compromise for everyone, and I can understand Florence wanting a child, it is rather late in life, so I'm glad it'd be an older child/teen that they would be getting.

    The wedding photos turned out lovely. It's nice that you got a picture of your last surviving children, it'll be nice to have as a keepsake.

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  7. Btw.. I forgot to ask. I just updated my blog and for some reason, I've noticed that on other blogs' blog lists, it shows I haven't updated in a week. Do you know any way that I can fix it? Thank you so much!:)

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  8. coolkat2, Thanks for reading, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

    Not sure what it is with the other blogs list not updating, it usually happens automatically so I don't really do anything beyond adding the blogs. I never noticed it until you pointed it out... it could be a glitch with blogger, I don't know. Sorry.

    maisie, thanks. I didn't want a young child because I'm kind of hoping that at least one of the parents see the child to adulthood if they adopt. It's a difficult situation, but one I can imagine happening to someone who marries relatively late in life.

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  9. I am with Florence on the deck chair and drink, I could go for that right now!

    Lovely wedding shots, and Ben is one sexy senior. Love how you wove in the child want into your narrative, made for some good drama~

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  10. Lovely couple, they just show that love knows no age! :)
    And her eyes in the last pic - omg! :D
    Btw, I really like this story, so I'm following, and hoping you'll come by my blog too!
    xoxo

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  11. Sorry for delayed replies! Somehow I missed these comments.

    Drew, thanks... and, yeah, Florence looks so chilled out in that first picture... I want to be there too!

    Diana, that last picture is so weird! Glad you're enjoying the story, I will check out your blog too.

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