The Right Sim

Summer 2001 - White Family
Narrated by Avery Monroe
Avery is 22, Gideon is 24

Usually, when something completely changes your life, it disguises itself as something completely ordinary. Like a random phone call in the middle of the afternoon.

It was my doctor's office getting back with me after my routine check up a few weeks before. It was not good news. Apparently, I suffer from a condition that will make it really hard, if not impossible, to have children. I wasn't planning on having any anytime soon, but it was still devastating news.

But I had to pull it together. I had a romantic date night planned with Gideon that night. We were going to have a fire on my beach and sleep in a tent, pretending like we were really roughing it.

It was hard to focus on anything, though. The same thoughts kept coming back to me, "I can't have children, I won't have children."

Gideon noticed something was off.

"Avery, we've had a pretty good run, haven't we?"

"Hmmn?"

"Are you listening to me?"

"Of course," I lied.

He sighed, and asked me to stand. I nearly fainted when he dropped on one knee.

"Avery Monroe, the time I've spent with you has been the happiest of my life. You're brilliant and funny and gorgeous and I can't imagine going back to the way my life was before I met you. Avery, will you marry me?"

I was so shocked. I said yes, of course. A handsome man gets on his knee and says what he said, you say YES!

It was definitely not what I expected to happen. And it was soon. We haven't been dating that long. But they say that when the right sim comes along, you just know it. And I know it.

But then I realized I had to tell the secret I'd been keeping all day. I didn't want to ruin the mood with my bad news, but I thought he had the right to know before he was sure he wanted to marry me.

Part of me was waiting for him to take back the ring.

What he said was, "Avery, there are plenty of options out there for couples that can't conceive. We'll figure something out."