#love&insimplicty

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Love & InSIMplicity (35)

Once Lou and Cassandra got settled into their new home, it was time to plan the baby shower! With Cassandra hitting her third trimester, baby Sena could make her arrival at anytime. They were absolutely spoiled by Cassandra’s friends and family and surrounded by so much love for their special day! Even Caleb made an appearance with his sister Lilith, with Cassandra’s blessing of course!

All of the Goth’s gathered to support Cassandra as well (please ignore Alexander I cannot even tell you the pain I went through trying to edit him and get these screen shots before giving up 😂 the game just did him dirty when he aged up), Bella and Mortimer have worked very hard on their marriage and supporting each other, Mortimer has become kinder and more aware of his family and wishes to develop a good relationship with them, especially Alexander since Alexander was just a child and still lived with them in the middle of everything.

Luna came out to support her best friend and helped set up for the baby shower, she admitted to Cass that the apartment has felt different without her and that she misses having her best friend down the hall from her, but she’s also so excited to be an aunt! She was weary of Lou at first because of Cass’s past and she would hear Lou and Cass bicker frequently and she’s happy to see her friend being taken care of and Lou stepping up to be a good partner and a good friend.

Bella on the other hand, is still concerned about Lou. She doesn’t trust him and is weary that her daughter might travel the same path she did and end up with her heart broken, although she’s forgiven Mortimer for his infidelity she doesn’t want her daughter to go through that feeling.

Alexander on the other hand, actually likes Lou a lot. Alexander and Wolfgang didn’t really get along and he would often get teased by Wolfgang so he’s happy to have his sister dating someone that treats him better.

Caleb on the other hand was surprised to have gotten an invitation to the baby shower, he didn’t hear much from Cassandra after their date and being the gentleman that he was, he didn’t want to parade her with texts and calls so he left it as is and he can see why she didn’t return his call, but he was happy for her and hopes to work with her once she starts in her new law firm position, someone as wealthy as the Vatores knows everyone…

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity

After Harvestfest, Luna decided to channel her new found inspiration on love, into her art and spent the afternoon happily painting. Wolfgang asked Cassandra out on an official date to a small coffee shop where he officially asked her to be his girlfriend, she happily accepted and our fingers are crossed for our happy in love teens 🥳

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (40)

A few days had passed since Lou and told Cassandra about what he had been up to. Cassandra had insisted that he become an informant, it was what was right for them and their family. They hadn’t gotten to talk much past that point as everyone was still coming over to meet Senna, and of course between the late nights and the no sleep, Cassandra barely had the brain capacity to really think out their situation.

However, on the day Luna came over to meet her new niece, Cassandra took this as an opportunity to speak with Lilith and get her advice on what she should do. The Vatores were very well known in the community for their business practices and Caleb assisted with any legal matters they were presented.

Cassandra sat Lilith down and explained the situation, technically Cassandra had graduated with her degree and also passed the bar and was by all legal terms, a lawyer. She could represent Lou if she needed too and that would also allow her to have all the information she needed if the cops decided they wanted to go after Lou instead.

“Legal matters like that can become very tricky, it’ll be a touch and go situation and if his crew finds out he’s double crossing them, who knows what would happen. There’s a potential they could blackmail him or frame him to go down for a crime and he could be looking at jail time either way.”

Cassandra put her heads in her hands, discouraged. Lilith felt for her, and squeezed her wrist, “Caleb might be better equipped to help you with this, I’m more on the financial end of the business but I can call him and set up a meeting for you, don’t worry, you have all of us here to support you Cas.”

Cassandra nodded and took a deep breath, if Bella and Mortimer had taught her anything, it was to be fierce for her family. She thanked Lilith and walked into Sennas nursery, watching Luna interact with her almost brought her to tears with how full she felt.

She knew she could do this, she knew she could get Lou out of this mess and be done with it.

Later that night after Luna and Lilith had gone back home, an unexpected visitor arrived and knocked on the door. Lou answered and to his surprise, Wolfgang was standing at the door. "Lou we need to talk"

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (39)

Cassandra looked questioningly at Lou, “what?”

Lou took a deep breath and let out a slow breath, “I may or may not have gotten into some trouble..” Cassandra’s heart started to beat a little faster, “I just wanted to make some quick cash to get us a place so I fell into some old ‘jobs’ I did as a teenager and might’ve gone into it a little too deep.”

“Back when I was a kid me and Rory met up with a group of people and we learned how to hustle and make fast street money, it was just a teenager thing and I ended up leaving as I got older. When I found out about the baby, they just happened to reach out about an opportunity to take me back in and I really wanted to be able to get us a place and then get out like I did last time…except that’s not what happened this time. The police caught up with me and are basically offering for me to become an informant for them and drop the charges they have against me, if I accept, I won’t do any jail time but I’ll have to keep up appearances as I have been and when the time comes for me to burn them, I can’t promise what will come of that. If I tell my crew what’s going on, there’s a chance I’ll end up doing jail time but the crew will still have my back.”

Cassandra’s face started to get hot, “Seriously Lou?! Are you joking me? We have a DAUGHTER NOW! We just moved in not months ago, and now you’re dumping this all on me??” Lou hung his head, “Why didn’t you listen to me and just let my parents help us out?? Why did you have to get us all into this mess??”

“Listen Cass, not all of us have parents to lean on. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to take a strangers money? And not only that, but a stranger that doesn’t EVEN LIKE YOU? I’ve been on my own my entire life, I’ve never needed handouts from anybody and you think that’s gonna change just because you got pregnant? I don’t owe anybody anything. Ever”

Cassandra rolled her eyes, “You owe people now Lou. A lot of people; I don’t even know what to say to this, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do” Cassandra started to feel the tears welling in her eyes, “we have a baby and we’re supposed to be a family and I just wanted things to be good”

Lou grabbed his hands in hers, “I’m gonna figure this out Cassandra, I will get us through this, I promise”

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (38)

The next couple weeks flew by as Lou and Cassandra adjusted to the newborn life, Lou is the most attentive dad and will even eat all of his meals in the nursery and watch over his daughter. Cassandra is a wonderful mom and anytime she’s feeding the baby, Lou is always in the background just admiring his family and really taking pride in their home and their life.

With the Goth’s also being present and doing what they can to help, it was stressful while Lou and Cassandra tried to find their own groove, they did end up sending them home a few days early so the new parents could get some time to themselves as well as enjoy parenthood (included bonus picture of Alexander’s new face, I TRIED YALL 😂).

However, unbeknownst to Cassandra, Lou had rejoined a crime career to make money fast for his family, although he had no intention of continuing it once he had enough money to buy them a place, things were starting to get sticky and he knew he would have to come clean to Cassandra eventually. Because of his past and how skilled he was, especially having a kleptomaniac trait he was offered the position of Crime Lord almost immediately and he accepted with little thought of how this would affect his family. Now that the police were hot on his trail and he was given the option to be an informant and burn his old crew, he knew time was running out. As much as he wanted to indulge in his new family, he knew he needed to tell Cassandra everything.

One evening after putting Sena down for her nap, Lou gently cupped Cassandra’s face in his hands, “Cass..there’s something I need to tell you”

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (37)

While eating dinner one night, Cassandra felt a sudden sharp pain and then felt her water broke. It was time for Sena Howell-Goth to make her appearance! Luckily Cassandra had an exercise ball on hand to help with the dilation (I tried so many times to do a hospital birth and it would only let me do home birth) and Lou was luckily home to also help (because it was glitching and didn’t send me a mid wife 😅). After almost 2 full days in labor, Sena was safely (thank god, I was holding my breath the entire time because complications can happen with home birth especially if you don’t get a mid wife 😬) delivered at home!

Both Cassandra and Sena are happy and healthy and it looks like to me that Sena is already very much a daddy’s girl 😂

Lou and Cassandra are so excited to be parents and have never felt so in love with a human before, as soon as Mortimer and Bella heard the news that the baby was born, they immediately came over and decided to stay for a few days to help out, it’s gonna be a full house and I wonder what’s gonna happen 👀

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (36)

After the baby shower, Cassandra was able to capture some beautiful maternity photos to welcome the new addition to her family, after months of waiting she was so ready to meet her little one and start a new life adventure.

Things seemed to be falling into place perfectly, although Lou worked night shifts he always made time to check on Cassandra and see if she needed anything and made sure to spend quality time with her. Unbeknownst to Cassandra, Lou made some iffy decisions on how to make money fast and he was getting himself into some deep trouble. He figured he would just be able to do it long enough to give them a decent start, he wasn’t proud of his choices and he thought he had left that life when him and Rory were teenagers, but for him desperate times called for desperate measures and he made some phone calls.

How this put his relationship at risk with Cassandra? Is he going to come clean and tell her about his recent decisions? Will he leave the life permanently and start over for his family?

Stay tuned 👀

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (31)

A few days after Harvestfest, Cassandra was in the Britchester library studying for her upcoming final, when she saw a familiar flash of blonde hair out of her peripheral. Her heart started to beat a little bit faster and she made sure to concrete on her textbook.

“hey..” she heard. She slowly turned her head, feigning uninterest fully aware that her obvious pregnant belly was pertruding out, “hey” she responded back, glancing back down at her textbook.

“I just uhh, wanted to apologize for how I left things, I know you know that it wasn’t personal but you deserved better than that and I’m sorry”

Cassandra turned a page, “okay”

Wolfgang looked at her confused, “okay..? It’s obvious you’ve moved on,” he said gesturing to her stomach, “so I know there isn’t a chance with us anymore but I want you to know that I did really love you and I was a stupid kid. I can’t change anything and it’s my fault that I let your family make me feel so insecure, but I’m really happy that you’re happy Cass. I’m genuinely happy that something good came out of me being an asshole”

Cassandra felt her eyes tear up, “why didn’t you come to my party? I just wanna know.”

Wolfgang looked at her and his face dropped, he contemplated telling her the truth, that Mortimer had stopped him but he also knew the hell her family had gone through and was there with her when she moved out. His heart broke into a million pieces: “I wanted to come, I really did but I wasn’t ready to be a man. And I wasn’t ready to see you and face what I had done and how I had treated you”

Cassandra wiped her few small tears away, “thank you for apologizing. I hope you’re happy too and I hope you’ve found some fulfillment in your life.”

Wolfgang dropped his gaze and nodded solemnly, Cassandra could feel the pregnant water works starting, so she smiled and squeezed his arm before gathering her books and walking away.

When she got home, she picked up Hocus and snuggled her, Hocus could smell the lingering scent of Wolfgang and meowed. Cassandra went upstairs to change into more comfortable clothes, as she passed a mirror, she glanced down at her growing belly and cradled it, Wolfgang was right, at least something beautiful was created amidst her heartbreak.

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (30)

Lou drives to Cassandra’s house to pick her up for Harvestfest (cleaning up quite well I might add), as she gets into his car Cassandra tells Lou that her family is considered wealthy and that he should know going in that they have high expectations for her and also trying to passively ask him to be on his best behavior. He smiles, “no problem, I got this.” Until they of course arrive at Ophelia Villa, then Lou’s confidence dropped just a little bit.

Lou, like a true gentleman held the door open for Cassandra to walk through, Mortimer and Bella immediately embrace her, and Bella gives Lou a slight side eye. Cassandra hadn’t seen her parents eyes light up like that since before she moved out, they fawned over her and asked questions, Mortimer got teary eyed over seeing the ultrasound photos, Cassandra was able to breathe a sigh of relief that her parents were so accepting.

They graciously asked Lou question, wanting to get to know him and starting small conversations, while Lou looked slightly awkward, he navigated conversation with them smoothly and tried to make a good first impression. It was the first time the Goth’s dining table had been fully seated since Cassandra and Wolfgang had broken up. Mortimer definitely seemed more open to accepting Lou, but Bella had obvious reservations and while she acted civilly, she wasn’t acting warmly.

After the meal on the way to the bathroom, Mortimer pulled Cass aside. “I can tell this guy has had a rough start in life. I see some of that reflected in his eyes when he talks. I also know a good man when I see one, and he is a good man.” Cassandra averted her gaze and looked down at her slightly growing stomach, “that doesn’t mean he won’t be without fault, and if I could be in charge of your life I would want you to be with someone who is already successful, that can take care of you and your baby, but I’m not in charge of you and I don’t want to lose my family again” Cassandra and Mortimer hugged, and he walked away to let her continue to the bathroom.

On her way out, Bella took Cassandra aside. “That man isn’t good for you,” Bella said quietly. Cassandra rolled her eyes, “just please trust me, I know how people like him work and he is just agreeing to take advantage, please reconsider. Me and your father can help you take care of this baby, more than Lou can” Cassandra started to get irritated, “you haven’t even given him a chance. You’re so quick to judge people and write them off without ever getting to know anybody. Have you ever thought maybe that’s why dad…” Cassandra trailed off realizing what she was about to say, Bella looked obviously hurt, “I know what you must think..” Bella said quietly, “but I don’t want what happened to me, happen to you. And I know the chances of that are high. I don’t want my daughter to experience that kind of heartbreak and betrayal”

Bella softly tucked Cassandra’s hair behind her ears, “having a family is a wonderful thing, but with it can come incredible heartbreak if you’re not careful” and with that, Bella walked away leaving Cassandra in the hallway. Unbeknownst to either of them, Lou happened to be at the end of the hallway and had heard everything. When Cassandra had rounded the corner, without prompting Lou had scooped her up and kissed her passionately, he was surprised that Cassandra had stood up for him the way she did.

Later that evening when Lou dropped her off at her apartment, she invited him in and sat on her bed with her head in her hands. “This is going to be a journey” Cassandra said, Lou looked and her and placed his arm over her, “let’s do it” Cassandra looked up at him, “let’s really do it, we can do this. We can be a family and I can help.” Cassandra replied, “really?”

Lou kissed her on the cheek, “really. We’re going to give this an honest try”

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicty (28)

After leaving Lou, Cassandra arrived back home. Her phone kept pinging with notifications from him, but she didn’t have the mental bandwidth to respond to him. It had been a long day, and she needed to tell her parents which she was dreading the most.

With Harvestfest coming up, she knew her chances of them accepting the pregnancy more gracefully would be higher but she also knew that blindsighting them would be a bad idea. She took a deep breath, and dialed her dad’s cell phone number.

“Daughter!” Mortimer said cheerfully on the other end of the phone, “how are you doing?” Cassandra felt her voice get a little shaky and she blurted out “I’m pregnant.” Mortimer went silent on the other end of the phone, and Cassandra could feel the silence like weight on her shoulders. Mortimer gently started asking questions, was it Wolfgang’s? Does she know what she wants to do? Is the baby healthy? Is she healthy?

Cassandra was surprised by his gentleness, she answered all of his questions, no it wasn’t Wolfgang’s (Mortimer sounded relieved), yes the baby and her were both healthy and at the moment she wasn’t fully decided on what she wanted to do but she was leaning towards keeping it, she was honest and mentioned the baby’s father she didn’t know very well and wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

Mortimer listened, and said “okay, I’ll tell your mother the news and we’ll talk more about it on Harvestfest when you come over”

Cassandra ended the call and sat on her bed out of exhaustion, what a long day this was. Her phone pinged again, Lou asking her to talk to him. She finally responded, “it’s been a long day, I promise I’ll call tomorrow but I need some time”. Lou immediately responded “okay”

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (27)

Cassandra was nervously fidgeting on the exam bed. “What if this is real, what am I gonna do”

She held her breath as the OBGYN walked in, and began the exam (ignore the fact that the animation removed Cass’s pants lol).

As the probe moved over her stomach, on the screen in front of her a picture of a small fetus began to come into focus on screen. She heard the rapid beating of the heart growing inside her. She looked over at Luna, Luna of course had a long road of grief ahead of her, but in this moment she appreciated the little life she saw on screen.

Cassandra stared in awe, barely listening to what the Sonographer was saying. Finally her voice started to come in louder, and Cassandra heard: “it’s too early to tell the gender, but so far everything looks good. Your baby is healthy.” She printed out the scans and handed them to Cass, who seemed to be on autopilot. It was real, it wasn’t a dream and there was no denying it anymore. She had some decisions she needed to make but she knew the first step would be to share the news with Lou.

She sent him a text asking to meet up, he of course recommended she stop by his place with a ‘;)’ but Cassandra was in no mood to be plowed over by Rory so she suggested the tea shoppe they had visited before.

Upon arrival, Lou immediately stood up and hugged her nonchalantly “Where the hell have you BEEN loca!” Cassandra smiled nervously, “you haven’t returned any of my texts!” He said playfully while they sat down.

Cassandra fidgeted nervously in her seat, she took a deep breath: “look I’m just gonna say this because I don’t know how else to say this” she jumbled, “I’m pregnant. Its yours, I really don’t want to argue about it and it’s a lot of information and I just need you to know before I decide anything”

Lou couldn’t hide his shocked expression, he could tell by the way she almost in tears that she was being genuine. Lou coughed into his hand, “uhhh if I’m being honest, I think we should have this conversation privately”

Cassandra agreed and they stood up to walk to his house down the street. The walk there was an awkward silence. When they got to Lou’s front porch, Rory was of course leaned up against the siding, smirking. “Decided to come back for seconds?” Rory said standing straight, Lou blocked her off immediately, “back off Rory” Rory sneered at Cassandra and suddenly the pregnancy hormones reared its head “you better get used to be coming around for seconds because I’m pregnant with his kid.” Cassandra ripped off one of the ultra sounds and threw it at Lou before walking off to call a can back home. While Rory watched Cassandra walk away, disbelief and pain written all over her face.

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (26)

**TW: mention of parent death

Cassandra’s heart was racing. She sat on the bathroom floor with her palms pressed against the tile. “This isn’t possible” she thought to herself, after three days back to back of puking, she finally gave in and bought a pregnancy test.

She hadn’t looked at the result yet, just sat there. She had been safe, she was on birth control and had been on birth control since she was a teenager, it was supposed to be 90% effective! Her head started racing with all the “what ifs”, what would she tell her parents? What is she gonna do about school? How is she gonna tell Lou that she got pregnant after just one hookup?

She took a deep breath, and looked at the stick. “PREGNANT” it said in bold words. She exhaled and put her head in her hands, sobbing. She knew she had choices but this is not something she had in mind for herself anytime soon. Her and Wolfgang had barely discussed marriage, for Cassandra she wanted kids to be way in her future.

She shakily stood and walked out of the bathroom, she looked over and saw Luna on the couch, also with her head buried in her hands. Cassandra plopped on the couch next to her and they just held each other, each one slightly crying. They both wiped their eyes and looked at each other, Cassandra spoke first: “I think im pregnant.” Luna looked at her and said “my dad just died” (actually happened in game, literally so sad 😭😭😭). They hugged for a while longer, Luna pulled away and told Cassandra no matter what, the next step is to get it offically confirmed so they made an appointment with an OBGYN to get an ultrasound, and of course Luna went with (the best bff!!)

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (25)

About a month had passed since Cassandra’s rendezvous with Lou, she hadn’t actually gotten a chance to see him again with how crazy her semester at university was. Between homework and term papers, she barely had enough time to eat and sleep!

It wasn’t for a lack of trying on Lou’s part, he did send her a couple “u up? ;)” texts but she just didn’t feel comfortable with the whole hook up thing after all, she knew it wouldn’t make her happy.

Luna saw her kind of moping around and called her into her little study closet and sat her down, “you know, you could always call Caleb again. I know you said you felt you had good chemistry with him”

Cassandra thought about it, she did have a good time on her date and he did mention he was interested in a long term relationship. But was she really ready to date? Lou was a one day rollercoaster and the text Wolfgang has sent her threw her off, was he at the club that night?

Cassandra’s head started spinning for a moment. She was lonely, it would be nice to go on dates and have companionship. She nodded her head in agreement with Luna, maybe she’ll call Caleb after all. Suddenly her stomach started growing, “speaking of never having time to eat..”

Cassandra headed to the kitchen to grab some leftovers for lunch, right as she opened the door a putrid smell smacked her right in the nostrils and a wave of nausea immediately overtook her. Luckily she made it to the toilet on time, it was definitely times like this she missed Wolfgang’s cooking 😂

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (24)

A couple days later, Cassandra gets a text from Lou: “sorry about the other day, maybe you could give a guy a second chance” she smiled at her phone, she admitted he was cute but she also wasn’t anybody’s plaything and she didn’t feel comfortable seeing someone who had a girlfriend.

She kind of tossed the idea back and forth before responding: “second chance granted, but I would like to sit down somewhere and get to know each other better” he agreed and asked her out to a boba place a few towns over, on the weekend.

They both got to the boba place at the same time and sat down, Lou confidently leaned back in his chair with his arm strewn over it.

“So..”, Cassandra started, “who was that?” Lou looked over at her, “old history.” She waited for him to continue and he didn’t, “I have to be honest, I don’t feel comfortable pursing someone who isn’t single”

“I’m single, but I’m also not really looking for anything serious. Life is too short ya know? Right now I’m looking to have fun, and sometimes that includes Rory even if she’s a little crazy” Lou chuckled.

Cassandra felt her heart sink a little, “I’ve only ever dated long term and the whole friends with benefits scene I’ve never been apart of”

Lou smiled a little, “we just hangout and stuff, no strings, no expectations” Cassandra nodded her head, “maybe we can see how it goes…”

They finished their ‘not quite’ date and went their separate ways. Cassandra collapsed on the couch when she got home and started to cry, Luna immediately put down her homework to console her best friend, “how did it go?” In between tears Cassandra explained how Lou just wanted to be a hook up and nothing serious. Luna wrapped her arms around her, “that doesn’t seem so bad. You never know, maybe while you finish school, something with low commitment would be good for you”

Cassandra nodded her head slowly, “I’m just so unfamiliar” Luna hugged her, “it’ll be okay, and if it ends up not being your thing, you could always opt out!”

Cassandra and agreed and texted Lou, “a hook up buddy doesn’t seem so bad, I’ll hit you up sometime ;)”

To be continued

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (23)

Cassandra and Lou made plans to go out to a club together, and boy did they have a good time! Cassandra suspected Lou may have started drinking before meeting her, but none the less they had a great time! It had been so long since Cassandra had gone out, she pulled out all the stops to make sure she looked amazing, and Lou definitely noticed as well 😏

They spent the night drinking and dancing and at the end, Lou asked Cassandra if she wanted to come over to his place and she of course agreed.

One thing led to another… and well she woke up in his bed the next morning. Almost as soon as she opened her eyes, Lou’s door loudly swings open and Cassandra watches as a blue hair fireball waltz’s right over to Lou’s bed and flicks him on the nose before glaring at Cassandra and lowly whispering “get out”.

Cassandra hopped out of his bed, “who are you??” Cassandra started, “I’m Lou’s GIRLFRIEND”

Lou jumped up and grabbed her, “Rory, we are not together right now! You know that, and I know that!”

“Funny that’s not what you said a few days ago when I was the one in your bed!”

Lou looked sheepishly at Cassandra, and Cassandra just shook her head. On her way out the door, her phone pinged and she looked down at the messages. I guess everyone has ex drama 👀

[a-simple-life-23]

Love & InSIMplicity (21.5)

The votes are in and we do have a winner by four votes, Mr. Howell will be Cassandra’s new love interest for the storyline, I of course have had some background planning going on for each suitor depending on who was voted victorious, based on actual gameplay that has occurred autonomously 😈

Enter Rory Oaklow, Lou’s (ex?) girlfriend? It’s hard to tell since they always seem to be on again, off again. They have both been born and raised in Moonwood Mill together and have been a fling since they were teenagers, however Lou has never been able to fully commit to anyone 👀

Seems like Cassandra may be doing the chasing this time around! The story will pick back up where Cassandra had run into Lou at the university campus, will she get Lou’s number? Will she still go on the blind date with Caleb that she agreed too? Stay tuned!