Chapter 19: Grow Old with Me

"So, ground rules," Jane says over breakfast on her first day of work, "no obvious favoritism, no embarrassing stories, and no baby pictures."

"You know, it's really cute that you think I haven't already told my colleagues embarrassing stories about you or shown them your baby pictures," Elizabeth replies with a smirk.

"You didn't. You wouldn't."

Elizabeth raises an eyebrow. "And what if I did?"

"Mom! If you've told them embarrassing stories about me, they're never going to take me seriously!" Jane wails.

Her mother laughs. "Calm down, dear. They wouldn't have hired you if they didn't take you seriously. You'll be fine. Trust me. But no working overtime today. It's your father's birthday, and we're having a cake."

"Are you throwing Dad a party?" Philippa asks hopefully.

"It's not a party," Elizabeth says. "Your father didn't want a party. I just invited your sister and her family and James over, along with Manu and the Cecils for cake."

"That sounds like a party to me!" Robert calls from the living room.

"It's NOT a party. It's a family gathering. But no overtime, Jane. I know you want to prove yourself, but you need to be here for cake."

"Fine."

As predicted, Jane takes her new job by storm. She's got a promotion under her belt when she leaves the station after her first day at work. Coincidentally, Elizabeth earns a promotion herself on the same day.

While Elizabeth's promotion allows her to covertly gather information about the buying and selling of gnomes on the black market (on a tip from Catherine, no less)...

...Jane's confines her to a desk in the basement of the station.

Robert spends most of his birthday doing one of his favorite activities - painting in his underwear.

"You know, there was really no need to throw me a party, dear," he tells Elizabeth mildly when she gets home from work. "I would've been just as happy having a cake with just you and the kids."

"Technically it IS just you, me and the kids. But the "kids" now include Carmen, Chantal, and Manu. So that inflates the guest list."

"That doesn't explain why Cecil is on there."

"I thought you were over your little Cecil vendetta."

Robert rolls his eyes. "I AM, but it doesn't mean I want him to be there when I turn grey and wrinkly."

"Aw honey, you know I only have eyes for you."

Robert smiles softly and pulls his wife into his arms. "I'm glad we'll always be together," he whispers in her ear. "I'm glad that I'm with you."

Elizabeth smiles and kisses his cheek. "Me too," she replies. "You'll always be my Robin, no matter how grey you get."

James arrives at the not-party first, bearing a plate of falafel and a hug for his twin.

"You got promoted on your first day? I can't say I'm surprised, Miss Know-it-All, but I'm really happy for you! Way to show up Dad on his birthday, though."

Jane sticks her tongue out. "Mom got promoted today, too. So I'm not the only one showing up his party."

"It's NOT a party! It's a family gathering!" Elizabeth calls from the living room.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Mom!"

"Thanks, dear!"

Robert takes a few minutes to think about his birthday wish. He can't decide between wishing for more grandchildren, or a a best-seller book.

"Elizabeth, have I always been this tan?"

"I don't know, but I want to know why everyone in this family insists on wearing green."

"It brings out the color of my eyes."

"You look good, Dad," James says before he heads home. "Just don't work too hard, okay? Call me if you need me to help you look after the house or something."

"Don't you worry about me, James," Robert replies gruffly. "My hair is grey, but I'm not completely useless yet."

"I know. But if you ever need help and Jane or Philippa aren't able to, promise you'll call me or Carmen, okay? We don't want you hurting yourself."

"If it means that much to you, fine. I promise."

James smiles. "Thanks, Dad. So, I got bitten by this really neat fish yesterday. I think it was an exotic species that migrated from a different city because I'd never seen it before..."

"WHAT?!? CECIL, YOU LET MY SON GET BITTEN BY AN EXOTIC FISH?!? SOMEBODY CALL THE DOCTOR!"

Robert settles into elderhood easily, filling his days with painting, cooking, and tinkering. The only major change he makes is to his hair - maintaining his long hair just takes too much effort, so he gets a trim.

Of course, doting on Chantal, who recently became a toddler, is a high priority, too.

Robert also continues to write. His latest work is a children's book titled Poppy the Hamster, dedicated lovingly Chantal. The book is an instant success, and becomes Robert's very first best-seller. He decides to continue the series, dedicating each novel to one of his children.

Life, in Robert's eyes, is good.

Elizabeth's birthday is only a day after Robert's. Unlike her husband, Elizabeth is a bit more apprehensive about entering elderhood.

"Happy Birthday, darling heart!" Robert chirps. "Roses for the prettiest rose I've ever seen in my life."

"Thank you dear. Too bad I won't be pretty for that much longer. My beautiful hair will be all grey and skin is going to sag and..."

Robert cuts her off with a quick kiss.

"You'll still be the prettiest girl I ever laid eyes on," he says confidently. "Nobody ever compared to you, Elizabeth, and nobody ever will. You don't need your red hair to be the same vibrant, fiery woman you are now."

"How do you always know the right thing to say, Robert?"

"Well I'd be a pretty bad husband if I didn't know what to say by now..."

"I love you, Robert."

"Love you too, dear."

Elizabeth wishes for the same thing she wishes for every birthday: peace, quiet, good tilled earth, and fabulous hair.

"Well what do you know, this isn't quite so bad. My hair is still fabulous!"

Grow old with me
Let us share what we see
And oh, the best it could be
Just you and I
And our hands, they might age
And our bodies will change
But we'll still be the same
As we are
We'll still sing our song
When our hair ain't so blonde
And our children have sung
We were right
They'll sing
Grow old with me
Let us share what we see
And oh, the best it could be 
Just you and I

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Sappy title for a sappy chapter. I don't do things by halves. XD

Yeah, this chapter is mostly filler. It had to be done. I apologize for the terrible writing and the lack of excitement.

Jane played so much chess as a child that she came away from her first day at work with a promotion. Such an overachiever. *sigh*

Here's a picture I snapped at Robert's party. My grown-up Dynamic Duo. (I still miss James terribly.)

Elizabeth really did get a tip from Catherine about the "Great Black Market Gnome Scheme" in the game. This made me laugh. Robert also really shared this secret: "I'm glad we'll always be together forever."  I nearly started bawling. My babies...

Elizabeth I was actually very vain in real life...she wore a lot of makeup (particularly to cover her smallpox scars), and resorted to wearing elaborate wigs when her own hair started to turn grey. All portraits had to be approved by her and she only approved those that made her look young and beautiful. She was very conscious of her image and was a ruthless manager. She was basically her own publicist and she was good at it.

Now that everybody's aged up, the plot starts next chapter! I have that chapter about halfway written (it's been written for about six months now, yikes), so hopefully it'll be up sometime later this month. Thanks for your patience y'all! School has been really intense, but I'm trying to carve out more writing and Sims time as I can. If you want to keep in touch, my Tumblr is here . I don't post much by the way of Sims, but I'm there.