Nichol goes to work thinking that today might be THE day – the day when she gets promoted to Leader of the Free World.
She has worked hard most of her life and is more than ready for the additional responsibility and if we’re honest here, the pay increase.

Kayla knows her mom is excited about the upcoming promotion and wants to surprise her by teaching Reiley to walk.

Training stops to take care of the kids.

“All right, Mister. Let’s get back to work,” Kayla says with a smile in her voice.

Nichol’s boss gives her an opportunity of a lifetime, asking her to travel to Shang Simla and network. Nichol gladly accepts and makes arrangements for Zach to go with her.

Addy’s Note: Nichol is the only one with a job outside the house and her career opportunities have been few & far between. The heading on this one seemed to indicate that it was an important one to do.

A long day at the office ended with Nichol not getting the promotion she was hoping for, but Jeremey’s Goopy Carbonara still managed to bring a smile to her face. Her daughter’s life is full of love and she is so happy for her. Nichol tells Kayla all about the upcoming business trip and was pleasantly surprised to see Reiley walking on his own for the very first time.

Addy’s Note: Nichol was so close to being promoted, her bar looked to be around 96-98% so this trip will definitely boost that bar over the top.

Zach & Nichol decide to stop by Nikki’s and let her know about their trip, too.

Nikki isn’t home and Nichol lets Johnnie know.

Addy’s Note: I haven’t mentioned this before but Johnnie is rather creepy. He tries to flirt with Nichol each time he sees her and once he even hit on Kayla (Oh! That was the first/only time he met Kayla as a YA). Ewww… uncomfortable relations for sure.

Johnnie puts Bobby down and Zach takes his turn at holding his grandson. “Hmm… hard to tell if you’ll have the pointy ears that were one of the things that caught my eye with your Grandma, nor can I tell who you look like more, but I do know this… the Snyder women are beautiful, each in their own way, and they sure do make cute babies!”

Outside the window, Nichol sees Nikki returning home from the gym so she steps outside to greet her daughter and discuss a few things out of earshot of the men.

Nichol: “Honey, you look fabulous and are more fit than you were before getting pregnant, but Bobby is still a baby who needs both parents. Soon he’ll be ready to start learning – things like walking & talking – and I hope you’ll find these teachable moments to be wonderful memories like I have. I’m not trying to pry into your personal business, but between the filthy bathroom and Johnnie leaving food on the counter I get the impression that neither of you are motivated to clean. Perhaps you two might want to discuss hiring a maid.”

Nikki: (smiles and says dreamily) “A handsome, muscular maid. He could keep the house in shape and provide me with tips on working out. I’ll have to talk to Johnnie and see what he says.”

Nichol smiles a bit sadly as she shakes her head as if saying, “Kids will be kids.”

Addy’s Note: After Nikki & Johnnie married, it has been difficult to visit both of them as one or the other wouldn’t be home at any given time. Johnnie has attended only one family get-together (Kayla’s birthday party, child transitioning to teen) and I honestly was surprised when Nikki got pregnant. It looks like their habit hasn’t changed – one or the other will be home with Bobby, briefly, but a number of times Bobby has been left home all alone. Being curious about all ~ kindly remember this is my FIRST family member to leave the nest, ever! ~ I have been peeking at map view more than normal, trying to arrange visits. My reason is because more times than not, I have set up the queue for a visit and by the time my Sim leaves the house, gets in car, drives down to visit a house that is only 3 houses away mind you, there is no one home! If Bobby is home alone – image seen on map view – it’ll disappear by the time my Sim has arrived. Tanu tells me this is to prevent kidnappings LOL

Back home, Nichol checks on her other grandchildren. Nikki & Johnnie and especially baby Bobby are on her mind, they’re so busy with their own lives and hardly ever home, so she doesn’t realize she is speaking aloud & voicing her concerns.

Kayla obviously overheard Nichol.

Kayla: “Mom thinks Nikki & Johnnie should hire a maid. She wasn’t a slob or anything like that when we shared a bedroom, but our first house was considerably smaller than both this house and the one Nikki lives in. It takes all of us pitching in over here and there are four of us to share the chores so I can only imagine how challenging it must be for just the two of them.”

Jeremey: “At least they only have the one baby to care for. Imagine what would happen if they had another?”… He pauses, realizing that he might be treading in dangerous waters as they themselves had Rosie soon after the birth Reiley… “I mean it worked well for us because we both work from home and have your folks helping out.” I should just stop talking now.

“On second thought, a maid might be nice for us to have!”

Nichol gets a call from the office letting her know that her travel tickets are ready and a co-worker is stopping by to drop them off.

Time to grab the bags, hop on the plane and go to Shang Simla, China!!!

Story Progression Update:
In case anyone is curious, Rhoda Broke nee Bagley passed away yesterday.

Previous: Snowflake Day – part 2
Next: Shang Simla, Day 1