Mia Ryman’s

Bachelorette Challenge Mzyra

Last Time on Mia’s Bachelorette Challenge: The kids moved in to get to know their potential (step-) fathers and
help Mia make her mind up. Noah wound up last but just by two points and left, only discover that he
couldn’t go back home, so he’s moved back to Simfield instead.
The remaining bachelors in current order of winning to last: Juan, Chephren and Rodney.
As usual Mia started off the afternoon by getting in the hot tub, where Chephren immediately joined her.
“You boys are never fully dressed, are you?”
“Would you rather we were?”
“Hm, I suppose not. You’re all just lucky this whole thing isn’t taking place in a ski resort or something like that
instead.”
“Ah, we’d probably find a way and a reason to take our shirts off,” he joked.
Meanwhile the second hot-tub had been removed and replaced with a game of Don’t Wake the Llama, so Jose
could join in on things, as well as just Lyle.
Lyle was surprisingly excited by the new game – they’d never had one of those back home.
Jose was more reluctant, but anything Lyle took to, Jose felt more confident to try.
“Do you actually know how to play this game, Lyle?”
“Um… I’m not certain. I think we just put our little stick things on there until they fall off or something.”
“Oh, okay. Do you think anyone else will join us, or should we start?”
“Don’t know. I think everyone goes for the hot tub until it gets dark-ish.”
But the boys weren’t banking on Juan’s apparent dislike of hot-tubs and so weren’t alone for long.
“We’re going to have to go back to school soon, aren’t we?”
“Well, we’re getting a mini-holiday Jose, you can’t really complain, we’d have to go back sooner or later.”
“I guess so.”
“I remember being back at school…” Juan mused. “You should enjoy it while you can, Jose. Adult life’s a lot
more complicated and less fun than when you’re a kid.”
“I guess so…” Jose repeated morosely.
Over in the hot tub, Rodney had joined Chephren and Mia, unhappy to leave her alone with another bachelor for
too long, just in case.
“I wasn’t sure what new stuff we were going to get, I figured it would be electronic games to appeal to all you
guys and the boys, but I guess with the giant TV they thought a normal game would be better.”
“Family board games sound like fun to me!” said Chephren brightly.
“I’ve never been much for those kinds of games myself,” Rodney said sceptically. “I think there are more
productive things to do… But I could probably give it a try,” he added at the looks the other two gave him.
Juan, Lyle and Jose were definitely having fun though. Juan was very glad for this addition to the house – trying
to talk to new people one-on-one could be awkward, especially when they were the children of your
prospective girlfriend.
“Slowly… Slowly…” Jose muttered as he delicately tried to place his stick on the pile.
“Come on, wake up llama!” joked Lyle, “I don’t want to lose again…!”
Juan suspected that Lyle had actually lost on purpose last time, but could understand why, he seemed to be trying
to make his little brother feel better. Lyle must have been his son. Who would have thought he would ever
have a son, never mind one so nice and grown up? He was sure he wasn’t so good and kind when he was
Lyle’s age. He couldn’t help but feel proud.
Things stayed much the same until it turned dark.
“It’s time for me to get out guys. Feel free not to stay here until tomorrow morning,” Mia said, looking
especially at Rodney.
“I’m sure we’ll get out eventually,” Rodney responded, entirely relaxed.
Mia chose to join in the cute game going on behind them.
“Having fun, boys?”
“Yeah Mum! I haven’t lost once!” explained Jose excitedly.
“Not having so much luck myself,” said Lyle sighing, though he shared a conspiratorial smirk with Juan across
the table.
“Jose’s clearly the best,” agreed Juan.
“Well let’s see if I can beat the master myself then,” Mia said, flicking water off her arms before she drenched
the table.
Despite what they’d said, Rodney and Chephren remained in the hot tub. After all, there were no spaces left at
the board game, so why bother getting out?
“I heard Sonic the Hedgehog got kicked out after just one bad conversation about violins. What do you think
you’ll do wrong that’ll get you kicked out?”
“… Sonic the Hedgehog?”
“That guy with the spiky hair.”
“Andy?”
“Meh, probably. You’re ignoring my insulting question.”
“I thought that might be the best path to take in this situation.”
The game playing went on for numerous hours too, but eventually it was definitely Lyle and Jose’s bedtimes, so
the game broke up, with the definite conclusion that that Jose had won, Mia came second and then Juan and
Lyle had been about level, actually competing to be the one to lose the most, though Juan calculated that
he’d just about let Lyle win that too. Being part of a family for once was very nice.
It was only then that Juan decided he would risk the hot tub again.
“Chephren,” he said as he nodded to his friend as he got in. He contemplated doing the same for Rodney, but
was stopped by the surprising amount of contempt he was increasingly feeling towards him.
“I see you’ve been bonding with your son and Jose. It’s all very well playing games, but I daresay you won’t be
watching horror films with them anytime soon, will you? It might put them off you a bit…”
“Juan’s not like zombies in the movies,” protested Chephren. “He’s just like a normal guy.”
“But blue and repulsive? Sure, why not.” Rodney said, rolling his eyes.
They hung out and talked for hours, but Juan wasn’t paying much attention. He wound up just watching Rodney
as he casually insulted the other two remaining bachelors. Juan wasn’t particularly surprised by the
revelation that there were serious jerks in the world, but Rodney was different.
Juan had spent most of a whole day bonding with Liv – she was sweet and adorable, and yet this man was her
father. He supposed, to be fair, he hadn’t seen how good a father Rodney might be, but that was part of the
problem: he hadn’t been anywhere near the kids, not even his own. Juan wasn’t too worried for Lyle, since
he seemed to be pretty level-headed and in control of his life, but Liv and Jose… What kind of father and
male role model would he be to them?
Rodney was not going to win this Bachelorette Challenge, it’d have to be over Juan’s re-dead body.
Rodney didn’t seem to notice his fellow bachelor’s musings, nor did he pay much attention to his daughter who
had crawled out once again in search of somebody to play with, but she didn’t stand much of a chance
against the strength of the hot-tub addiction present in most of the men of the house by this point.
And before they knew it Mia had reappeared after a full-nights sleep and a bath too and, once she’d put Liv
down for a nap, she started up the one-on-one dates, beginning with Juan as, despite being the last to get in,
he was the first to get bored of it.
“It was nice watching you play with the kids yesterday Juan and it looks like they like you too.”
“Well they’re great kids, just like their mum. And it just testifies to how good a parent you are that they’ve
turned out so well without a father so far.”
Mia couldn’t help but want to kiss him after that, even if that was possibly most of the reason he’d said it. It was
sweet nonetheless and he’d been so good with all of the kids, more than either of the others had been. He
was making her feel so happy already. Though she had to remember that he hadn’t won yet, the others might
start hanging out with the kids more yet, though they were running low on time for that day…
And it was still just as easy to talk to him as it was to kiss him. And, Mia thought, it would be nice to be with the
father of one her children; like she had made one less mistake in her life. Though she didn’t really want to
prove Rodney right again after yesterday. She’d try to stay neutral on that front, but Juan… was a distinct
possibility.
Next up was Chephren. Cute and sweet Chephren…
“I see Rodney’s been setting a bad example for people again – don’t tell me you’ve been out here all night?”
“You’d be surprised how quickly the time goes.”
“I’d have to guess you’re right because I can’t understand it otherwise.”
“I’d hate to think you might be doing things while I’m busy sleeping though, I wouldn’t want to miss out.”
She smiled and rolled her eyes. “You haven’t missed out on much so far, just hours of lying there.”
“I expect you could have made that interesting,” he smiled.
She pulled him into a passionate kiss. It was very nice, it had to be said.
Despite everything Juan had going for him, in terms of her raw attraction Chephren would be beating him fairly
easily, though not because Juan was a zombie or anything, she was sure. Chephren was just so sweet and
cute, but also manly enough – he had an especially nice chest, as well as his distinctive ears. But it depended
on what the kids thought too and so if he get to know Liv and possibly Jose better too…
She really liked Chephren though. But she really liked Juan too. She was almost beginning to consider the
potential benefits of legalising polygamy, but she knew that wouldn’t work – not in her situation, anyway.
She was sure nobody would want to share her, and she probably couldn’t deal with two men at once anyway.
She had no idea how romance women managed it.
Anyway, this was becoming an increasingly tough decision either way.
“It’s nice getting to know your kids Mia – Lyle’s really cool. And Jose seems nice, though it’s hard chatting to
someone who’s so shy.”
“What about Liv…?” Mia prodded gently.
“Oh, well, sure, but I mean she’s only a toddler and I didn’t think she could even talk yet, so I wasn’t really sure
that I’d be able to…”
“Trust me, she’s very able to bond with people, even now.”
“Oh. Well okay, I’ll… I’ll try then.”
That conversation was okay, but when the subject moved on to where they lived and what Mia’s plans might
be…
“But it’s so much better to live near the sea! It’s beautiful and sunny and you can play on the sand-! How can
you even think of living in the middle of a city or something?!”
“I just think that I might fancy being a bit of an entrepreneur and businesses and things tend to be put in cities-”
“But that’s no reason to live there too!”
Mia quickly got away after she realised this conversation was not getting any better…
And then on to Rodney.
She caressed his face and felt his hair running through her fingers – it was very well looked after, he must have
spent a lot on hair care products for it to stay so nice, hers would have been frazzled after pretty much two
days in a hot tub.
“Um, what are you thinking about?” he asked, puzzled.
“I like you. And your hair.”
“It’s nice to be appreciated?”
She pulled him in for the kiss. Again, very nice. Now if it had only been Rodney in the picture she probably
would have been fine with him, and that could have happened if she hadn’t done this challenge, but he
wasn’t the only one and the others seemed to be trying so much harder…
And then it went back to conversation.
Rodney was easy to talk to, easier than the others really, but it felt like it was somehow too easy, like they had
too much in common. Possibly like he was lying. But she was never quite certain, she just felt a bit uneasy
about it all… Especially when at other times he was sarcastic, blunt or cruel. But she still cared about him
and as Liv’s father she guessed he’d always be around anyway…
And then it was time for another eviction.
“You guys really never do get dressed, do you? And have any of you slept since yesterday morning?”
The guys looked at each other guiltily.
“Anything that’ll help,” Rodney pointed out wryly.
“I guess I’m not complaining, but it’s distracting…”
“Anyway, eviction time again. We’re all at least best friends by now-” the bachelors knew that she could only be
referring to between her and them, rather than between all the bachelors. “So you know, as usual, this isn’t
personal or anything, I like you all a lot as people and would be sad not to have a single one of you in my life
to some extent, but again, as usual, somebody has to go.”
“Like I say, I care about all of you, but there is a distinct difference between one of you from the two others. I
like all of you, but I’m kind of at the point that… I love two of you, and while I like the other, I don’t love
him. And that’s a big thing not to have when others do. So I’m sorry, but the person who definitely has to go
is…”
“Hi Rodney,” she said, hesitantly.
He said nothing, he just stared at her, eyes slightly glazed.
“I guess I said most of what I would say to you already… I like you a lot, but the love… It’s not there like it is
for the others.”
He remained silent, face completely unreadable. She wondered whether he was deliberately making it difficult
for her or maybe he was hiding hurt feelings.
“So um, yeah, I’m sorry, but it’s just the way this whole thing goes I guess.”
“You’re choosing them over me?” there was no emotion in his voice.
She gave an apologetic half-shrug. “I had to choose. And I’m kind of backed-up by the kids – I wouldn’t be
surprised if they didn’t know who you are, you never interacted with any of them. Not even Liv.”
Rodney stood up. “I suppose I have to leave then.” Mia was worried – all the other bachelors had been
disappointed, but had basically taken it okay, none of them like this.
“Well hey, look, it’s not personal.”
“You don’t love me, how is that not personal?”
Mia faltered at this – where was the line on something being personal? She’d never considered it before. “Okay,
well, it’s not like you love me, is it?”
Rodney resumed the silent, glazed look he had before. Mia wasn’t sure whether that was a stubborn way of
saying ‘no’, or a hurt rejected way of saying ‘yes’. She felt bad if it really were the latter.
“But we still have Liv and I’m sure she would love to know and bond with her biological father. No amount of
marriage can replace you there and I’m sure she would love you as a father.”
Rodney gave her another, different, imperceptible look. “Yes. I suppose that would be good. I’ll do that.”
He turned to go back to the house and get his things, briefly giving both Juan and Chephren a very cold look that
Mia didn’t see. This wasn’t over for whoever won this farce.
But Mia couldn’t read him and still worried as he went back in the house. What if he was hurt? She didn’t want
to have hurt one of her best friends like that…
He came out of the house again silently too – so quietly that Mia almost didn’t realise until the taxi drove up.
“Rodney, wait! Are we okay? I don’t want to leave things like this…”
He pretended not to hear her. She wasn’t his concern any more, but this was still, very much, not over.

Mia felt her heart sink as the taxi drove off. She hated conflict.
Day 5 Scores:
1st: Juan; 100/70  + 52/9 + 36/9 + 98/33 =
407 (165 + 52 + 50 +130 = 397)
2nd: Chephren; 99/71  + 98/21 + 0/0 + 0/0
= 289 (170  + 113 – 2 + 0 = 281)
3rd: Rodney; 100/68 + 0/0 + 0/0 + 0/0 = 168
(159 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 159)
In terms of total scores it looks like there’s leagues between each of
them, but the daily scores are easily built – Juan got 100 with Liv
on that in just a day, so if Chephren were to bond with Liv and Jose
he could still win, especially since he’s a little ahead in Mia’s eyes
on lifetime score.
As for Rodney, he never even tried! He never spoke to any of the
children at all. This may be blamed on severe hot-tub addiction, but
equally I think it can be blamed on complacency and disdain for
nearly everyone who’s not him.
Meanwhile, across a number of fields…

Mzyra tapped her foot slowly and sighed irritably. She knew she should just go inside, but just in case… Hope
just had to freaking well spring eternally, so she had to stand outside and wait until she became even more
certain.
“He’s not going to come here, is he?”
“Probably not, no.”
“So I can’t blast him with alien powers?”
“No. Not that you have any anyway. Yet, at least.”
“Oh. Does this matter? Are we going to have to hunt him down?”
“No… he’s done here, if he’s gone back to Simfield he won’t return.”
“So… Shall we go in? There’s probably some chocolate in the fridge, why are we bothered about him?”
Mzyra crossed her arms defensively without realising it. She wasn’t really worried about Rodney or what he’d
do, she was just annoyed. He was her sim and he ought to be a little wary of her, not just completely ignore
her. She could kill him off just like that and he was totally disrespecting her even so.
Admittedly, he didn’t know all of that, but even still it was… rude. It was just as well that she didn’t think he’d
lead a wonderfully happy life anyway. Git.