Chapter 2.05 Dolled Up

Belle wasn't the only baby in the house.

There was a gnome who was trying to steal her thunder. Hopefully she wouldn't have to teach it the hard way that she was the only baby that should get her mommy's attention. At least she was the only living one, but the gnomes have a weird way of getting around.
Still, Belle knew she was her mommy's favourite.

Alyssa picked Belle up, smiling at her, "Are we going to have a pyjama day today?" She asked, cooing. Of course, even though it was nice to think about, Alyssa couldn't have one today as she was going on a date. She had been talking to her mystery man, and he seemed like a really nice guy. He's called Damon, and he's quite a bit older than her. He had a teenage daughter from a past relationship, so luckily he wasn't a stranger to children.

"Will you be alright with a babysitter tonight?" She asked, a little nervous about leaving her on her own for the first time. That was partly why she was glad that Damon had a daughter, he wouldn't think she was being paranoid if she needed to check in during the night. Belle still didn't know how exactly to talk yet, so the only response she could give was accidentally sneezing on her mommy.
"I'll take that as a maybe." Alyssa murmured, gently wiping Belle's nose which only caused another sneeze.

Alyssa soon got herself and Belle dressed, and she helped her little girl take her first few steps. After a while of practicing to walk, Belle started to get fussy. Alyssa figured she probably just needed a nap, which would also give her a bit of time to get ready for her date tonight.

Alyssa honestly felt optimistic about her date tonight. It had been the first one since she was a teenager, and that was when she was in France with Matteo. Since then, she's aged up, got a job and had Belle.
Hopefully she still would remember what to actually do on a date, but at least it hasn't been too long.

She got ready first, then sorted out her hair. Her arms were tired from holding up sections, backcombing and pinning back, but she thought it was worth it.
It felt good to get all dolled up again, and it made her feel like a teenager once more (not that her teenage years were all too far behind her.)

After a few adjustments to what she was wearing, Alyssa was happy, and not just with what she was wearing. She had a beautiful daughter who she loved more than the world itself, and she (in her opinion) was doing perfectly fine as a single mother.
There was only one thing that was bothering her.

Tyler. He hadn't texted her, or called her ever since he moved in with his girlfriend, Spirit. "What a dumb name." Alyssa murmured, begrudgingly. She checked her phone, and still no word from him. She was honestly a little bit worried, was everything okay with him?

She called him, and it rung before going to voicemail, no surprise there. "Hey, Tyler, its me, Lyss." She started, albeit a little awkwardly. It would be easier if he picked up his damn phone. "I'm just calling to see if you're okay, and see how you and Spirit are doing." She managed to keep the slight growl out of her voice at the mention of Spirit. Alyssa could stop wearing makeup, and be all earthy if she tried.

"So, uh, yeah." She laughed a little, awkwardly. She began to wonder if leaving a message was really the right thing to do. "Call me back soon? I miss talking to you, I mean, I know there was all that icky stuff, but I really want us to at least be friends." She spoke honestly, not understanding why he just seemed to stop talking to her. Had she done something else to upset him? "Don't be a stranger, okay?"

She sighed slightly, and hung up. No matter what anyone says, girls aren't the real dramatic ones, boys are. Boys just claim to be 'too manly' to be dramatic or complicated.
She put her phone away, and was ready to take back her words when she heard Belle crying. Alyssa frowned, and quickly went to her daughter's room, she hadn't been away too long, had she?

Meanwhile, in her bedroom, Belle was throwing a full blown tantrum. It wasn't usually like her to be this way, which told Alyssa that there must be something worse than just being lonely or hungry. Still, she tried everything.

Alyssa tried feeding her, changing her, cuddling her but nothing seemed to work. She couldn't help but wonder, was Belle sick? Alyssa put the back of her hand to Belle's forehead, and she was really burning up.
She sighed, "You're sick, aren't you?" She spoke gently, frowning. She knew she couldn't leave her daughter with a baby sitter when she wasn't feeling well. Belle would probably get the reputation of being a troublesome toddler, and all the baby sitters would fear her.
It brought a slight smile to Alyssa's face when she thought about that, but she knew she had to cancel her date.

She put Belle down in her crib for a while, then called Damon. "Hey, its me." She couldn't help but sound a little disappointed.
"Hey Lyss, there's something that I really need to tell you before we meet." He honestly sounded really worried, and she couldn't help but wonder why. She knew she had to tell him soon that she couldn't make their date.
"There's something I have to say too."  She mumbled. "Do you want to go first? Or shall I?"

"I'll go first." He said, and Alyssa could tell that he was nervous about it.
"What is it? Surely, its not all too bad." She told him, with a slight smile, even though he couldn't see it.
"I'm not a normal person." He spoke cautiously, and Alyssa furrowed her eyebrows. Sure, she knew he could be a little odd sometimes, but who doesn't have a crazy side?
"What do you mean?" She asked, getting more and more curious. Could it really be something that bad? Or was he just overreacting?
"I'm a werewolf."

She paused for a while, honestly wondering why the supernatural seemed to come into contact with her family. Then again, an ordinary life would be a boring one.
"Alyssa?" He sounded quite upset, but she didn't fully understand why. Had he been judged before about the way he was? She could half understand that, after all, this town wasn't fully accepting of everyone. "I understand if you wanted to cancel our date, but I knew I had to tell you sooner rather than later."
"And you chose about half an hour before our date?" She laughed a little, "I do have to cancel actually." She frowned. "My daughter's sick, and that's why I called you." She sighed, starting to feel bad. What if he thought she was ignoring him based on what he had just confessed.

"She is? I'm really sorry to hear that." He murmured, "and you said you were already nervous about leaving her on her own with the babysitter."
"Yeah, so I guess we'll have to postpone our date, unless..." She was about to suggest something, but then cut herself off, regarding it as a bad idea.
"Unless...?" He asked, intrigued by her idea. "I really want to see you, for real soon."

"I was going to suggest if you wanted to help me out here with Belle." She murmured. "Doing old school, a babysitting date." She laughed.

"My daughter's already a teenager, so I'm not so sure how much help I would be..." He trailed off.

"So, is that a no?" She raised an eyebrow, honestly suspecting that.

"No. Its a yes with a warning. I'll be at yours in about an hour, and I'm guessing no formal date clothes?"

"No date clothes, unless if you'd want bath bubbles all over them." She laughed, "I'll see you then."

She hung up fairly swiftly, knowing that she had to get changed into what she would usually wear. It wasn't the date she was expecting to have, but at least her worries about Belle would be pretty much gone.

It didn't bother her all too much that he was a werewolf though. Besides, she had a half sister witch who was married to a vampire, and a half brother who could teleport.

If anything, Alyssa should know that no guy she'd date would ever be fully normal.

But then again, who wants normal when excitement is just around the corner?

Chapter 2,04 Daughter Dearest                                                                                

  Chapter 2.06 Splash

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AN: This chapter is a little short because I was going to add the date in too, but I figured against that as this chapter would have been too long if it had both this and a date in it.

Methinks that I need a lot more practice in posemaking. A lot. Perhaps with practice my posemaking skills will improve.

Chapter 2.04 Daughter Dearest

Not much had happened, life was almost routine. Today was a special day though.

Belle's birthday. It was weird to Alyssa to think that her little girl was going to be a toddler. It felt like just yesterday that she was born. Time happens to fly when routine sets in. Luckily, there was a cute cake with an adorable owl on top to celebrate.

Even though it was only the two of them for her birthday, Belle had met her aunts, uncles and cousins (even though Alyssa doubted that she would remember her first meeting with them.) As Alyssa put down Belle, so her little girl could have her birthday, she couldn't help but think of her and her brother's conversation on Snow Day.

"So, I was honestly surprised when Rosie told me about Belle." He half smiled. It was pretty obvious that he would have been surprised. Alyssa never even told him about Tyler, and hadn't told neither him nor Rosie the truth about what happened in France.
She laughed a little. "Yeah, she was kind of a surprise to me too." It was honesty. Belle was probably the furthest thing that Alyssa had planned, but she was glad that it happened. She loved her daughter, and it didn't matter to her that she was on her own. But, it didn't all too matter what she thought.
"And it was a shock to Tyler as well, right?" Connor raised an eyebrow, and she decided in that moment that maybe honesty was the best policy.

"Well... I kinda lied about me being with him." She smiled cautiously, and quickly added before he could interrupt. "I didn't intend on lying, he showed up, and it just happened." She shrugged, knowing her brother would be angry for keeping a secret like that.
Connor sighed, "I just hope you know what you're doing. You probably don't realize it, but a lot of people here are judgemental over single parents." He told her. "No one will ever say anything to you, but they'll get the wrong idea of you."
She furrowed her eyebrows, "What? Why? Its not like it's hurting anyone me being on my own for now." She shrugged.
He shook his head a little. "People are just like that. They don't like anyone being different or changing how the town is. You've just got to watch your reputation."

"Watch my reputation." She repeated, and picked up Belle. Even though she was an adorable toddler, Alyssa couldn't help but wonder how she was a brunette... Her mom was blonde (as far as she was concerned) and her dad had strawberry blonde hair, it didn't make sense. Maybe it was from Matteo's side? That made sense, but still. It wasn't the same shade of brunette...

Belle wasn't all too bothered by her hair colour though. She had exploring to do. The main thing that caught her eye was the house on the rug. She went straight over to it. 

At first it was puzzling how the little people didn't seem to move, so she decided to reach into the house and grab one. 

She didn't get why the little sim didn't move. Sims move, and they do things. They don't just do nothing! What kind of sim does that?

How boring.

Unless she was supposed to move it? Belle hit the doll against the floor, and the house a few times, wondering if it would move then.

Maybe a good amount of toddler slobber on the tiny sim's head would be enough to make it move. However, it stayed as inanimate as ever.

Belle wasn't all too impressed by this. Perhaps there was something more fun around the house?

Alyssa broke her attention away from Belle for a second. There was something she had to do.

She was going to delete her online dating profile. It was stupid for her to get it anyway. She had cheated, had a child, lied and found out her ex had a girlfriend in a matter of days. She needed to slow down. Of course, she didn't get to this conclusion by herself.

"You lied to me?!" Rosie's voice was a harsh whisper, and it was of course understandable. Alyssa had confessed her lie to her sister, on Snow Day. She had told her everything, including Matteo and her return to France.

She was smiling uneasily. "At least I've told the truth now?" She tried, remembering that she felt really intimidated by her sister then. After all, her sister had managed to freeze a really powerful fairy to death when Alyssa was only a child, imagine what she could do now...

"Alyssa..." Rosie's voice was a warning sign of her anger, and Alyssa had never seen her sister like this. 

Alyssa frowned. "I'm sorry for lying. I just, I don't know." She murmured, remembering that she felt stupid about her lie. She could have just trusted her sister.

"Its fine. If you didn't want help, you should have just said." She smiled ever so slightly. 

"Actually, I'm trying to find someone new." Alyssa gave her sister a small smile back. 

Rosie's arms dropped down to her side, mostly out of shock, again. "Please tell me you're kidding." She murmured.

Alyssa shook her head, feeling a little defensive. What was so wrong with it? At least she was trying to fit in this time. "No, I'm not. I want to be like the other families here. One where there's both a mom and dad and they're both together and married. You know what I mean?" She asked. It seemed like such a simple thing, but weirdly enough, neither her nor her half siblings had that. Alyssa was the closest to having that, apart from her parents weren't properly together. "I want a perfect little family." She smiled softly.

Rosie sighed, her hands going back to her little sister's upper arms. "Because you want something to be perfect doesn't mean that you should go off trying to find someone." She shook her head slightly, dismissing the idea. "So what if you don't fit in? I know you're used to being Little Miss Popular, and forever fitting in with the crowd, but if that means you running around like a boy crazy teenager, then it's not worth it."

Alyssa looked down, knowing it was best to delete that dumb online dating account. What was the point in it anyway?

"You need to slow down, okay? Just spend some time as it being just you and Belle." Rosie continued, smiling softly. "I know you said you wanted a perfect family, but it won't be all too perfect if you ignore your daughter."

That was the furthest thing from Alyssa's mind at that point, but even imagining ignoring her little Belle, it was a heart breaking thought.

So, she decided then to delete this stupid account, and try and forget she even signed up anyway. What luck was it going to bring her anyway? That is if anyone had even messaged her. 

However, someone had.

It didn't take Belle all too long until she had managed to find something that was a little more interesting. This room looked a lot more fun! She especially seemed to like the black and white thingamajig in front of her. What did it do though?

Belle managed to scramble up on to the thingamajig stool. However, she was could have sworn that she had felt someone help her up on to the thingamajig stool, but there wasn't anyone there. 

She looked down at the thingamajig, seeing all the buttons and all the keys, so she did like what any toddler (Or not even a toddler) would do.

She slammed down on it, creating a magnificently loud noise! She slammed again and again, giggling at the rough mismatch of music notes coming from the speakers. This was a lot more fun than that silly pretend house will ever be. She continued to slam down on the notes, a little more softly and found it made different noises.

"Dear Alyssa," She started to read aloud, "I noticed your profile, and I couldn't help but at least message you." She raised an eyebrow, making mental notes about this guy. He seemed a little creepy right now. "I looked over your profile, and we have quite a lot in common. In fact, I have a child too. It would be nice to meet you Alyssa, but if you're not interested, it's okay." She murmured the end, furrowing her eyebrows. This guy was very forward, and she begun to think about it until she heard a crash from her mom's old music room.

Alyssa scooped Belle up off of the keyboard when she went into her mom's old music room. "What are you doing in here, cheeky monkey?" Alyssa cooed, mostly just thankful that she was okay. The loud crashing noise really worried her, and she was terrified that something had happened to Belle. Luckily though, the little girl was laughing as she was lifted up high into the air.

Alyssa looked around the room, and stayed quiet for quite a while. This room was the same as it has always been, she couldn't bare to move anything, and she didn't have the strength to even come in here. This room held her mom's greatest passion, her music. Her dad's stuff was a little different, mostly because he wasn't as focused on exercise and fitness as her mom was to music. 

Alyssa sighed, looking around once more. "Come on, this isn't our room." She murmured, holding Belle close. It took her a moment before she walked out of the room, mostly just to try and hold on to those memories just that little bit longer. 

She walked out of the room slowly, not fully wanting to leave just yet. It wasn't that she was much closer to her mom than her dad, but there's a special relationship that a mother and daughter have, and its still difficult for Alyssa to face that her mom is really gone. She didn't even get to meet her second granddaughter.

Well, at least that was what Alyssa thought.

Of course Little Miss Scientist would never believe in spirits. Well, it wasn't exactly like Erin could prove that she was there, but at least she did manage to at least see Belle on the keyboard, even if it was just her hitting the keys in a random order. 

She couldn't help but grin when Alyssa was confused about how Belle would have gotten up on the stool, who else could have helped her up? 

As she watched her daughter and granddaughter leave, she smiled. Hopefully, there would be someone who could look after these instruments, and make sure that they wouldn't collect too much dust. After all, Erin couldn't keep them to herself from beyond this world. She just hoped that if her granddaughter did want them, she would give her instruments the same dedication she gave.

Chapter 2.03 Beauty and the B**ch                                                                   

Chapter 2.05 Dolled Up

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AN: I was going to add another scene, but then I was like, "No, I've added enough to this." and I wanted it to have a fairly sweet/sad ending. That's the last we're going to see of any ghosts though.

This has been a fairly odd week for me, it's been my brother's last ever week at school (which is weird as hell thinking that he's not going to be there, Lord knows how he feels.) and I've had an ugh/WOO! week this week, which has made me feel somewhat bipolar. 

However, I am feeling quite proud of myself right now. Even prouder when I caught someone out in rounders (baseball). Those poses with Belle and the keyboard are one that I made. They're not quite perfect, and the second one has some clipping with her arms and the keys, but I think they're pretty damn good!

Long AN, I know. Sorry. I should be updating more frequently now my Spanish exams are over.

Chapter 2.03 Beauty and the B**ch

"You didn't tell me that he had a girlfriend."

There was the sound of Tallulah groaning over the phone. "I just woke up, okay? Who has a girlfriend?" There was the sound of shuffling over the phone.

"Tyler. He has a girlfriend." Alyssa explained, frowning. "Why didn't you tell me when we met up for coffee?"

"Tyler has a girlfriend?!" She asked, sounding shocked. Clearly, it wasn't only Alyssa that didn't know about this mystery woman.

"Yes, he does and knowing my luck, she's probably a supermodel or something!" She snapped in a whisper. She then sighed, and apologized reluctantly "Sorry for snapping."
"Its fine. And I doubt she is a supermodel. Just remember that you and him have a history together. If some skank wants to get in the way of that, let her. And let her get heartbroken because he'll probably just come back to you." Tallulah said simply, as if it was the obvious thing. "How's Little Lyssie anyway?"

"The baby's fine, and I'm alright. Everything's ready and prepared for her, its just a waiting game now." She smiled.
"You're still pregnant? I thought the baby would have been born by now." Tallulah sounded almost restless. "And what if it turns out to be a boy? What will you do with the girly room?"
"Still pregnant, but she'll be here soon at least." Trying to look on the brightside, Alyssa half smiled. She just wanted to see and hold and cuddle her baby girl already! "And I know its a girl. I'm one hundred percent certain she's a girl."
"Whatever you say, but if you call me saying that she's a he, I will laugh at you. I can assure you of that." There was a slight pause, before she continued with "Look, I've got to go. I'll talk to you... Soon, okay?"
Sighing, Alyssa responded "Okay, I'll talk to you soon. Bye." And with that, the line went dead.

After her phone call, Tyler came into Alyssa's room. She honestly just hoped that he didn't hear anything that she was saying about him on the phone. She was grateful that he was staying, and helping out, but at first when she asked, she honestly hoped it would be in the hopes of getting close. "Why do you have your coat on?" She raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down.
"Because, we're going to go out in the snow, and make a snowman." He grinned, "and no, you don't have a choice."

"Tyler... I don't know." She sighed, honestly not wanting to go out into the cold. It was warm inside, and there wasn't any snow inside.
"C'mon, it'll be fun." He grinned. "We can go to the Winter Festival later too if you want." He raised an eyebrow, trying to tempt her.
She groaned, and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll build a snowman with you, but only because you'd probably suck at building one on your own." She grinned.

"Are you sure we're doing this right? It's head looks a little fat." Alyssa noted, smoothing down what she thought was the head of the snowman. She couldn't help but laugh a little, thinking about how different the song would be if Frosty was an overweight snowman.
"That's the top part of the body, not the head." He stopped adjusting the bottom part of the snowman's body to look up at her "and I don't think snowmen can be overweight."
"He can dance, can't he? Why can't he get fat?" She pointed out.

"See? It looks less fat when its got a head." He grinned, making sure that the bottom and middle spheres were connected.
"Still, he's a little tubby though." She poked the snowman where its stomach would be (if it was real). "Maybe he should think about dieting." She joked.
"I'm sure by spring, all the extra pounds will have melted away." He grinned, and both of them laughed at the bad kind-of pun.

After decorating the Snowman with whatever the two of them could find in the house, they spent a while admiring their work.
"So, are you glad I forced you to build a snowman?" He asked.
She nodded, "Okay, fine. I'm glad, and I had fun. But, now we're going to the winter festival, like how you promised." She grinned, and the two of them went off

It was fairly obvious what Alyssa would do. She went straight to get the last gnome that was afflicted with the Seasons and the last original one they sold at the festivals. If anything, she knew that the easier gnomes to collect was done. She would have to try and manage to collect the more difficult ones for her ongoing research. But she knew that her collection (possibly her findings too) would be awesome.

The hot tub was without a doubt her favourite right now. It was so bubbly and soothing and just perfect. The temperature was just right, and she started to relax. It was a little odd how there was a hot tub at the winter festival, but it was probably to warm people up. However, everything was just right.
Just right that is, until she felt something a little wrong.

She put her clothes back on, and went over to the ice skating rink, where Tyler was. She felt that same feeling again, and thought it was probably best to go to the hospital fairly soon. "Tyler!" She called, and could see he was coming over to her. "I need to go to the hospital." She spoke a little quieter as he got closer.

Once she was home, Alyssa wasn't the only girl in the house. She knew the baby was a girl, and she was right. She had a beautiful little baby girl to spoil and pamper.
When she did get home, the first thing she wanted to do was to get changed into her clothes again, and get changed into something more her. Yes, it was a little selfish, but she needed to feel like herself again. Herself, who was now a mom.

Alyssa carefully placed her baby girl in the crib. She did it very slowly too, almost scared that she'll hurt her if she went too fast. She was just so tiny though, and adorable. She realized that it didn't bother her if Matteo wasn't around, she could do this on her own.
However, while Alyssa was tending to her little girl, she was unaware of the visitor downstairs.

It was Tyler's girlfriend, Spirit (not her real name, but the one she prefers to go by.) "So, our place is ready." She smiled softly, looking at him. "All of the nasty auras are gone, and you don't have to stay here anymore." She kissed him on the nose, then giggled.
He smiled back at her, "It wasn't that bad staying here, you know. I kinda liked staying with Alyssa." He shrugged, and Spirit stepped back.

"Alyssa? You've been staying with Alyssa?!" Spirit yelled in a whisper. She didn't want Alyssa to hear their conversation, but she couldn't just be fine with this. She was his ex-girlfriend, and to make it worse, his pretty. first ex-girlfriend.
"Well, yeah." He shrugged, not fully seeing what the big deal was. "Its not like there's anything between me and her anymore. You're the one I love." He smiled.

Spirit sighed, and looked away. "I know you love me, but you should have told me you were staying with Alyssa." She mumbled.
"I honestly didn't think it would bother you too much. There's nothing between me and Alyssa, and there never will be as long as I'm with you." His arms went on to her shoulders, and he tried to get her to look at him.

Spirit sighed, "I don't want to sound too much of a b**ch when I say this, but I don't want you talking to her." She looked at him. "For a start, she cheated on you, and I don't even get why you're still willing to talk to her." She frowned. "I know its bad, but I'd just feel a lot better if you didn't talk to her, and if you didn't see her."
Tyler frowned at her request. Never talk to Alyssa? How could he do that? Yes, there was some history there, but surely they were both over that. He couldn't just stop talking to Alyssa, but he didn't want to lose Spirit. He sighed, "I'll go talk to her, and I'll meet you at our place." He half smiled at her.

When he went upstairs, he guessed that Alyssa would probably be in the baby's room, and she was. She was cuddling her daughter, unaware of the fact that he was even there. She was almost in a trace, just holding her little girl close.
"Have you thought of a name?" He asked, although quietly.

"Belle." She answered, her attention still on the baby. "It means beauty." Her explanation was vague.
Tyler couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her choice of name. Belle, it was a French name. "Belle?" He then pursed his lips, "He used to call you that." He didn't ask, he knew that's what that French guy called her.
"Yeah, and I thought it was pretty, and it has a nice meaning." She smiled, and finally turned to face Tyler. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"My girlfriend Spirit just came over-" He started, and was soon interrupted by Alyssa.
"Spirit? That's a stupid name." She murmured, laughing a little. She put on a straight face again, "Sorry. Go on."
"Our new place is ready, so I won't need to stay here anymore." He managed to say the first bit, now he just needed to say that he could never talk to her.

"Oh." She bit her lower lip, honestly a little disappointed. "Right, you said you could only stay for a while." She didn't want him to go, but what else could she do? He had a girlfriend. "We'll meet up later this week though, right?" She asked.
He hesitated. "I'm not sure if this week will work for me. I'll get back to you." He made up that excuse, not wanting to say that he could never talk to her again. He couldn't say that, mostly because he didn't want to forever give up on their friendship. Maybe if things don't work out with Spirit, there may still be a chance? Possibly.

There were two of the little swings. One in Belle's room, and one in Alyssa's office area. She carefully placed Belle in, and turned it on. Alyssa could remember having one of these when she was little, and she remembered that she loved it. Also, it was so Belle could have something entertaining while she was working.

But right now, she wasn't exactly working. She figured that if Tyler could find someone else, why couldn't she? So, she signed up to a dating website. She knew that was a bad way of meeting new people, but why not at least give it a shot? If it doesn't work out, she can just give up on internet dating and do it the old fashioned way. But she should at least give it a try.

Chapter 2.02 Perfect Fake Family                                                           

Chapter 2.04 Daughter Dearest

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Right now, I'm considering whether or not I'd want Belle to be my heir.

She inherited Erin's brunette hair (at least when I checked her out in CAS she did.) and I honestly really liked that hair colour.

So, 1/? children is born, and unless if you dropped the hint, the Gen Goal is Awesome, and I'm going to collect all the gnomes I can (without breaking the career rules).