2.20 Around the McGinnis House

Laura looked down at her morning tea contemplatively. As with most mornings since the wedding, Madeline and she were starting the day together in the kitchen. Working in catering meant that Madeline prepped a lot at work and lately she had taken to making breakfast. The amazing part was Laurent had seemed quite happy to let his daughter-in-law take over in the kitchen. Although he took over the stove to bake or cook as inspiration called him to still.

"Laura...Laura?" Laura looked up to see Madeline looking at her expectantly, pausing in chopping vegetables to raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry, what did you say? I was lost in thought." she readjusted her grip on her mug.

"I was asking if a frittata sounds good?" Madeline asked and then refocused her eyes on the knife, carefully starting to chop veggies again. 

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be great, Mads." Laura bit her lip, trying her best not to laugh at the very serious expression Madeline had on her face.

Recently, Madeline had gotten a promotion to catering. She hadn't exactly been thrilled but there was talk that they would be in need of a mixologist soon. So she was working really hard, so those in charge would think of her when her true passion opened up. As an added bonus she even worked the bar at some events.  She came back at all different hours, often very exhausted. Still she seemed content with her life, no matter how deliriously tired she seemed. 

Lately, though, Laura had noticed she had been putting those skills to use and she had been taking her job as a new wife extremely seriously. She didn't excel at cooking the way Laurent did. It took all her concentration but Laura could tell that she really loved it when Cam and everyone else ate her food.

"Hey, Laura...are you working today?"

Laura looked at her cell phone on the counter, checking the time. "Yes... I'm working 9 - 4 at the museum today. I actually need to get ready soon. I'll be back for the family dinner though, like usual."

Family dinner. The thought made her want to frown but she forced herself to look at her friend. "Why?"

She had been putting this off for a while now. But with everything finally settling into a routine and the deadline drawing near, she couldn't put it off any more. Madeline looked up at her from the vegetables. But before she could say whatever she was thinking, Cam walked in interrupting them. "Making us some breakfast?"

Laura looked over at her brother walking into the room. He must have been out late at the site the night before. He was still in his pajamas, which was unusual. 

"Morning, Laura." he said chipperly, which wasn't unusual. He was almost always unbearably happy these days. Ever since he and Madeline had married especially. Walking over to Madeline, he kissed her on the cheek and smiled at his sister before turning his adoring eyes back to his wife. "Good morning, beautiful." 

Madeline smiled in return. "Good morning. I know you have to head out to the job site, but I was inspired this morning. So take a fritata with you."

Cam grinned. "Hey, I always have time for breakfast. Especially breakfast made by the most beautiful woman in the world..."

Smiling, he leaned in and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for another kiss. Laura smiled at the exchange. It had been over a month since the two of them had married but displays like this had become to norm around the McGinnis house. 

Laura was glad that she had grown up with her parents being pretty much the same or she might find it nauseating. Still she liked to tease them. "Hey, hey. Don't be kissing by the breakfast! Other people want to eat that too you know!"

Cam pulled back and shot her a mock glare to which she lifted her mug cheerily. Job as annoying sister done.

Not that any amount of annoying sibling bothering was going to make Cameron unhappy. He was over the moon right now. Married, happy and his contribution as mayor underway there was a whole lot that needed to happen to burst his bubble.

As Dylan had expected the permits had been fast tracked, and just a a couple weeks after they were married Cam was breaking ground on the three house construction project. Since it was his baby, he always headed over to the job site after his early morning run. He and Dylan worked closely to make sure that his designs were coming out exactly as he envisioned.

Thankfully...Dylan was a very patient foreman.

As for Collin and Laura, they were both still commuting to their work. She to San Myshuno to work at the Art Museum and Collin to whatever venue that he was Opening Act in at that particular night..

And when he wasn't travelling, he was spending time with Myla. The two were extremely close and Laura was pretty sure that Collin had thoughts of making her a more permenant part of his life soon. He was about as moonstruck as Cam had been before he proposed. The only thing he seemed to do besides talk to and about Myla when he wasn't working was play his violin. Thankfully at least it sounded like music these days. Sometimes he played late into the night or got up early and rehearsed before work.

Yep, life around the McGinnis house had settled into a nice easy pattern...but today... at dinner, she was going to throw a wrench in it all.

* * *

Meal time had become quite the event in the McGinnis house. Depending on the catering gigs, they planned to have at least one meal all together. Today was family dinner since Madeline was working 6 pm - 11 pm tonight. The thing that Laura liked was that Cameron always came back from the site for whatever meal was planned. Cam was a family man through and through, already working hard to stay connected to his wife despite their work schedules not really meshing.

It was why she loved him. Why she knew that he and Madeline were going to be OK...It was also why she knew it was the perfect time to break the news to everyone...well, almost everyone... Today, Collin had a gig so he was out of the house but everyone else was here. And, as she told herself this morning, she already put this discussion off too many times to count.

Madeline had made a caprese salad and it looked great. But food wasn't the thing on her mind. Sitting down at the table, Laura looked around at her family and smiled. She loved being able to be with them. Eating her food, she watched as Laurent and Madeline talked about working in the kitchen together at The Dish and how happy they all looked together.

She wanted to hold on to moments like this for just a little longer.

After eating a little bit though, she knew she needed to tell them her news before she lost nerve again. Setting her fork down she looked at them. "So...I have some news."

Everyone looked over at her expectantly. Start with the good news first. "I've been doing really well at my job. So well, in fact... my supervisor submitted my name for a promotion."

Adaleigh smiled over at her. "Laura, that's wonderful news."

Cam, Madeline and her dad all agreed, smiling at her. Laura smiled. She knew they would be supportive. Looking at all their smiling faces, she half wondered why she had been dreading telling them.

"Yes, but...the new job requires that I get a degree."

Cam raised an eyebrow. "OK, so what does that mean?"

"Well," she looked over at him. "I applied to a few universities and... I got a acceptance...from the Academy, actually."

Cam looked startled now. "Wait... you mean, Sims Academy of Advanced Studies...? You mean that extremely prestigious, competitive and expensive university located just north of Magnolia Promenade?"

Laura smiled at her brother. Of course, Cam would know about the Academy. He prided himself on knowing about everything inside and outside of Newcrest. It mattered when you were Mayor he would say if she asked him how he knew. "Yes, but the tuition isn't a worry. My job will cover the tuition if I accept the promotion. But... if I accept the promotion... the problem is it means longer hours and taking university classes on top of that. In theory, I could still commute but..."

She glanced from her father to her mother. Now she remembered why she was dreading this "...I want to move to San Myshuno."

She looked across the table, looking for some support from Madeline. Instead Madeline looked upset and then quickly looked back down at her plate, moving the food around on her plate with her fork.

Swallowing, she looked down at her own plate. "I'll be closer to work and can just commute to classes at the Academy.  I already found an apartment in the Arts District that I can afford on my salary. It's not huge but... it's located right across from the museum."

"How long have you known?"

Laura looked over at Madeline's question. "Well, the offered me the promotion a little after you moved in. But I only...I only got the acceptance a little before your wedding. I just... I didn't know how to tell you all."

Madeline looked back down at her plate and finishing her food.

Adaleigh looked from her daughter to her best friend. "Laura, you know that we support you in whatever makes you happy. If you need to move to San Myshuno, well, we're excited for you."

Laura smiled over at her. "Thanks, Mom."

The finished lunch in silence after that. As was his habit, Cam collected the plates and took them into the kitchen to wash. Madeline had been extremely quiet after Laura's announcement and although she finished her food and even smiled at Cam as he picked up her plate, she left the table looking upset. Laura frowned at her watching her.

Standing, Laura walked to the corner and watched her. Madeline turned the handle but the door was locked. Laurent had beaten her to the hospital and Madeline sighed.

"Mads... you OK?"

Madeline looked over at her and then sighing turned and headed in the opposite direction to Collin's room. Laura frowned and followed her. Madeline was not one to keep quite and it worried her. As Laura entered Collin's room, she heard the bathroom swing open but it didn't shut.

Concerned she rounded the corner to see her best friend losing her lunch to the toilet. "Mads...are you OK?"

Straightening, Madeline turned on the sink and washed her mouth with water before turning to look back at the toilet.

Laura stepped into the room and closed the door quietly behind her. "Mads?"

"I'm fine...I think... I just had something back at work yesterday. Nothing has been staying down since."

Laura frowned. "Have you been throwing up since yesterday?"

Madeline turned to look at her. "I'm fine, Laura. Don't worry about it. Anyway... I... I have to get ready for work. Don't you have to let your job know you're taking that promotion?"

Laura frowned as her best friend walked away. "Madeline..."

Madeline turned to look at her and forced a smile. "Congrats on that, by the way."

Laura stood in Collin's bathroom and frowned. Life around the McGinnis house might never be the same again...

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A/N: Special thanks to LegacySims2017 for the use of Dylan Wahl. In this post, the only pose used was the Investigation Pose by Avolfram.