Jonathan sat next to his wife as they ate lunch in the kitchen. As much as he had let go of the past and looked forward to the future, thoughts of old dreams fluttered about his mind from time to time. As of late, he hadn’t been able to shake this one. He had to talk to her, but he was afraid. Of what? He wasn’t sure, so he sat there shifting in his seat and stealing quick glances at her as if he were waiting for a sign.

“You’re very fidgety today,” she said. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah…” Not even he was convinced by his response.

She tilted her head in that way that let him know she knew he was bluffing.

“…no,” he settled on.

“What is it?” She was so sweet to him. There was no way he could hide anything from her.

“Sky…” Suddenly he realized why he was afraid. He didn’t want her to be sad and knew this subject had the potential to bring back horrid memories. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Jonathan! Please tell me!” She grabbed his hand and caressed it. “You know you want to,” she said in a quieter voice with a smile.

He smiled too. He did want to. “I’ve been thinking about…my restaurant…” His face winced a little as if to anticipate a proverbial blow.

She gave a smile of approval. “I’ve half expected this conversation for a while, Jonathan. Why are you so nervous?”

“Well…you know…because of—

“Jonathan,” she said in a gentle yet stern tone. “Leave the past in the past. We’ve moved on, remember?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s not just that though. The timing is off, and it just feels…selfish. I mean, we’ve gotten back on our feet thanks to the flowers and getting my job back, but we don’t have that kind of money yet. And, we’re expecting another baby soon and—

“Shhhhh.” She covered his lips with her finger. “Those are all excuses. None of those things are showstoppers. We know best of all that there is always a way, right? This is your dream, Jonathan. If you want it, I’m with you!”

The weight on his mind was lifted as he breathed a sigh of relief through an admirable smile. He leaned toward her and stroked her beautiful, long black locks. “You’re so amazing, Skyla. I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

After a brief, tender moment, Skyla brought the conversation back to the center. “We have money all around us, Jonathan. The flowers aren’t going anywhere, and I can easily sell all of these paintings. We could reopen by this weekend if you wanted to.”

“No!” He was visibly bothered. She hadn’t seen him agitated in a long time. “We’re not reopening that place! I never want to see that place again!”

She knew why, but his quick change in attitude was surprising.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to… I know we’ve moved on, but I guess sometimes it catches me off guard. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. I understand. So, you want to open a new restaurant then?”

“Yeah.” He briefly got lost in thought. “And…maybe if it goes well, I’ll open another. I still think about having restaurants all around the world.”

Skyla smiled as she recalled their conversations about his restaurants when they were teenagers. Even back then she could see the fire in his eyes and wanted him to succeed. His concerns about the timing was valid, but there was no way she was going to stifle his dream. Her trip down memory lane took her past some dark alleys which held painful memories. Her eyes began to water, but they were happy tears.

“Oh no, what did I say?” Jonathan panicked. “See! This is why I didn’t want to bring it up! I’m sorry, Sky! Whatever it is I’m sorry!”

She laughed. “I’m fine, silly. I was just thinking about how much you sacrificed for me… It’s my turn to sacrifice for you now. You deserve to have what you want, and I won’t let anything stand in your way. I love you.”

He was speechless. He knew now that there weren’t any excuses he could give that would make her consider delaying this. “I love you too, Sky…” He didn’t know what else to say. A knock at the door interrupted the moment, and he leaned back on his stool to see who it was. “Oh look! It’s Uncle Emerson. You stay there. I’ll get it.”

While he answered the door, Skyla smiled to herself as she ate her lunch. She was so happy about seeing her husband’s tenacity back in action in this way. He was tenacious at work and about the flowers, but nothing beat seeing that tenacity that came when he was going after his dreams.

“Hi Uncle Emerson! How are you?”

“I’m married!”

Jonathan gasped. “You and Kat finally got married?? Congrats!”

“Thank you! We just decided to do it, you know? We’ve been together so long, we bought a house together, and we found out we’re having a baby! It just felt right to do it.”

“Oh my goodness! You’re gonna be a dad too?! You’re just full of all kinds of good news today! Are you excited?”

“I’m…surprised. I imagine this is how my parents felt when they realized they were having me so late in their lives. I think I’m ready though. Dealing with her kids prepared me pretty well, I guess.”

“This is so cool, Uncle Em! I can’t wait to meet this kid. Man…I never imagined I’d have a little cousin.” He laughed.

“Speaking of little cousins, I guess you can’t call Derek and Chasity your little cousins anymore, huh?”

“Oh…yeah…I guess I can’t.” He didn’t think about how the youth potion would affect him in relation to the rest of his family. He and Skyla simply wanted to enjoy their new, happy life with their kids longer.

“You look excited about something too,” Emerson said.

“I am!”

Back in the dark ages when Jonathan and Skyla were at their lowest, the family made a habit of stopping by to see about them. They made sure to keep their spirits up, food in the fridge, and a little money in their pockets when they needed it. After things started looking up and the assistance was no longer needed, the family was still in the habit of visiting.

“So what’s the big news?” Emerson asked.

“Well, first of all… we’re expecting again!”

“OH! More little Pruetts! That’s great! Congrats you two.”

“And… we’ve decided to open another restaurant soon. I’m gonna do what I said I was gonna do.”

“Dude… That’s awesome. My mom would be so proud right now. Yours too!”

“Yeah… Oh, grandma…”

SURPRISE!

Your eyes do not deceive you! The Skylathan and the generation 8 & 9 Pruett legacy crew are returning for a short while! I hope I haven’t given you a heart attack by springing this on you, he he he.

So, as most of you Simmers know, Dine Out just came out! This was what I really wanted for Jonathan back in the day, but of course I had to make do with the limitations of the game. When I learned this pack was coming out, I just had to revive Jonathan so he could really live out his dream of owning restaurants all around the world. However, I only had two versions of that save. One was the current one where Jonathan is dead and has a couple grandkids, and the other is what you’re seeing now which goes back to Skyla finding out she’s pregnant again. I wonder if we’ll get Benjamin and Adrian again! We’ll see. So, because of the minor break in continuity, we can’t consider this to be a continuation of the legacy and I wouldn’t want it to be anyway. I’m putting this in the alternate realities camp which is great because I goofed and gave them youth potion too early and now they’re back to the beginning of their YA years. Whoops! LOL, so now they’re waaaaaaay younger than everyone including Little Cousin Derek and Chasity, but that’s ok. He’ll need the extra time to do what he needs to do! Although I’ve given this a title and its own story page, I’m not going to consider it to be an official story. It is more like a challenge! This is going to be a fun way for me to explore this Game Pack and see what we can do. Of course, I’ll include family times and the progression of the family, but it’s mostly going to be about Jonathan and his restaurants. See the story page for more details. So, without further ado, I am SO pleased to present to you Delicious Dishes & Dreams! It will be affectionately known as 3D. 🙂