Chapter 0.8: The Eye of the Beholder

"Are you sure you're ready?" Brian asks, concerned.

Beatrix smiles and nods her head. "I've been waiting for this day for years," she reassures him.

Ryder watches from a distance as his parents squeeze in a few private moments before the wedding ceremony. He sighs contentedly, hoping that one day he and Jane can be just as happy as they are.

Ryder is mortified when Jedidiah, his best friend, arrives to the formal event in his casual clothes. He's praying that Jane won't notice.

He's so worried about it that he doesn't even see his friend Shanna arrive.

Shanna feels her stomach do somersaults as she walks by Ryder. She thinks he looks so dapper all dressed up in his tuxedo. If only he would turn around, he might notice that Shanna looks rather lovely herself.

Surrounded by their closest family and friends, Brian and Beatrix get married.

While the rest of the guests clap and cheer, Shanna weeps. She cries so hard that she ends up excusing herself and leaving for the evening.

As the guests linger about the wedding gazebo, Jedidiah takes it upon himself to liven up the quiet crowd.

"Woo!" he hollers loudly. "Time to part-AY! And rock your bod-AY! Like you are naught-AY!"

Ryder finds his friend's antics embarrassing rather than humorous. He hopes Jane isn't watching.

Lucky for him, she isn't. She is far too busy primping herself in front of the mirror in the bathroom to actually attend the ceremony.

She finally makes an appearance at the reception, where she immediately locates Jedidiah.

"Ha. Ha," she sneers. "You're wearing a t-shirt! To a WEDDING! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Damn straight!" he yells back at her. "And I still look better than you!"

Skylar shows up late and misses the ring exchange, but at least he makes an appearance. He's a big shot athlete now, and Beatrix is just happy she gets to see him at all.

(The smoldering angry look suits you, Sky.)

Ryder sees Jane and immediately makes his way over to her.

"Hi beautiful," he whispers as he pulls her in for a kiss.

(By the way, the pretty, pregnant blonde on the left is Dulce Little, formerly Enmity. <3)

Beatrix approves.

Jedidiah, on the other hand, does not. He frowns and gives Jane his best impression of the "evil eye".

After the last guest leaves, Brian and Beatrix finally get to head home and have some quality alone time on their wedding night.

"It was perfect, wasn't it?" Beatrix asks Brian as they cuddle together on their bed.

"I couldn't have wanted anything more," Brian replies with a smile.

The next day, Beatrix decides to visit her daughter-in-law Irma, who makes a surprise announcement. She and Skylar are expecting their first child!

Beatrix thought she would be upset about becoming a grandmother, but she's actually quite overjoyed. She insists on playing peek-a-boo with the unborn child, despite Irma's insistence that the baby can't actually see her.

When she gets home, she finds another surprise waiting for her in the kitchen.

Beatrix completely forgot it was Brian's birthday.

"Do you still love me?" Brian whispers.

Bea pulls him into a hug. "More than anything," she tells him softly.

Meanwhile, Ryder and Jedidiah hang out upstairs.

"Dude, you've totally changed since you landed the lead in the school play," Jed complains.

"Whatever!" Ryder laughs. "I'm still me. Just now I actually have friends."

Jedidiah glares at him. "And what was I? Your pet monkey?"

"No. Jed, that's not what I meant..."

"Oh, I know what you meant," Jedidiah interrupts. "You meant that now you actually have friends you're not embarrassed to be seen with."

Ryder looks down awkwardly. "No! Jed, I-"

"Whatever, dude. I totally saw the way you avoided me at the wedding party." Jedidiah pauses for a second, carefully considering his next statement. "It's all Jane," he says at last. "She's turned you into another one of her mindless groupies. You're just a prop to her, dude, something she can show off to her friends."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You better watch it, Jed. That's my girlfriend you are talking about!" Ryder tries to keep his tone light and easy, but his words are laced with a bitter edge.

Jedidiah sighs. He figured that Ryder would probably react that way, but he knew he had to try. He's graduating in a couple of days anyway, and hopefully then he can leave all this high school drama behind.

A few hours later, Ryder still can't stop thinking about what Jedidiah said to him earlier. His comments about Jane really bothered him.

"I'm going to marry her, you know," Ryder blurts out. Jed continues to stare silently at the TV, so Ryder continues. "I'm going to marry Jane. I plan to propose to her right after graduation."

In his usual dramatic fashion, Jedidiah pretends to gasp. "And this is supposed to shock me?" he asks sarcastically.

"Perhaps not, but I just don't want you to keep talking shit about her. I love her, and that's all that matters."

"Love is in the eye of the beholder," Jedidiah replies vaguely.

Ryder doesn't know whether this is another one of Jed's crazy, not-quite-there remarks or whether he's actually trying to tell him something. Ryder decides it's the former and drops the subject.


Challenge Notes:

I officially hate wedding parties in the Sims. Bea and Brian's wedding was such a BITCH! Seriously, the only person who actually sat during the ceremony was Shanna. And she got glitched and wouldn't stop crying. I had to reset her and send her home, that's why she randomly decided to "leave early".

Everyone else stood in the aisle, making it nearly impossible to take decent photos. And then they all randomly switched into their everyday outfits halfway through, so I had to master controller them back into their formal attire. Skylar really did show up late to the party (like right before it was almost over), and Irma kept trying to chat with Bea during the vows. Annoying!

Oh, and I totally realize Jedidiah's last line about "love" and the "eye of the beholder" is not the actual saying. Just so y'all don't think I'm an idiot.