The Beaumonts - Round 2

Starring:

Armand Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Become Education Minister

Adelaide Beaumont, Adult Knowledge Sim, LTW Become Chief of Staff

Arnaud Beaumont, Teen Romance Sim, LTW Become Celebrity Chef

Alain Beaumont, Child Family Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last season at the Beaumonts, Armand, Adelaide, Arnaud, and Alain settled into their new home, attempting to readjust to the slower pace of suburban life. Adelaide and Armand both got started in their new careers, Medicine and Education, respectively. Alain grew up well into a child, and Arnaud learned a lot about cooking with the hopes of progressing toward his dream job. How will they fare as fall gives way to winter?


As the weather turned chilly, the Beaumonts found themselves spending more time indoors, staying warm. It gave them time to strengthen their bonds.


Especially little Alain was enjoying having so much family time. Even though he was young, he understood how lucky he was to have such a loving, close-knit family. Even his big brother didn't pick on him the way most older brothers did.


Of course, the weather wasn't enough to keep them indoors all the time. Alain and his papa shared a love for sports, so they could often be found outside tossing a football or baseball until their fingers were too cold to catch anymore.


Armand also took time to work on his studies. His job as a teacher meant he had to stay sharp...and know how to clean up big messes.

That afternoon, Adelaide came home with a promotion from work. The hours were terrible, but being a Paramedic was exciting and fulfilling.


Alain came running outside to greet his mama. "Congratulations, Maman!" he cried, throwing his small arms around her neck. "Do you wear the sethascoper now?" he asked, never having quite mastered that term. Adelaide laughed. "Sometimes, mon petit," she answered, following him indoors.



Confidence bolstered by her promotion, Adelaide decided to try once again to get the boys into private school. She'd failed yesterday, but she was confident that she could do it today. It was just a feeling she had. An hour after she made the call, Headmaster Vince Walter showed up, and she greeted him, inviting him in for the tour.


Of course, being the best chef in the house, Arnaud made the meal, and Adelaide and her boys sat down with the headmaster, chatting with him amiably.


After they ate, Arnaud tried to schmooze the headmaster about school. Despite having been impressed with the meal, Headmaster Walter was NOT impressed with Arnaud's attire and shaggy hair. "Young man," he began sternly, "I hope you realize that such lax attire and...unkept appearance will not be tolerated in my school." Arnaud sulkily looked at the ground. "Yes, sir. But..." He looked up, realization dawning in his eyes.


"Yes," the Headmaster said. "You and your brother are welcome at my school. But make sure you're spic and span when you show up there." Arnaud grinned broadly, and Alain smiled hesitantly in the background, knowing a good thing was happening but unsure how excited he should be about it.



Adelaide was happiest about the boys' acceptance into the prestigious private school. "I knew the boys could get in," she sighed happily that night as she and Armand relaxed in bed. "Of course they did, mon coeur," Armand replied, scooting over. "They've inherited their maman's brains."


Adelaide giggled like a schoolgirl, cheeks flushing happily as she reached for her husband and pulled him over her.


That night they discovered there was more than one way to stay warm on the cold winter nights.



They fell asleep the happiest they'd been yet in their new town, wrapped up together while their boys slumbered upstairs.


The next morning, bright and early, Alain put on his new school outfit. It was a little itchy, but he had to admit, he thought he looked very grown-up in it, and Arnaud had one that looked just the same, only bigger!


While the boys were at work, Adelaide snuck in some time to work on becoming more charismatic. Good bedside manner was important for doctors, and the ability to keep people calm would definitely come in handy as a paramedic.


When Alain got home from school, Adelaide took some time to play chess with him. Alain impressed her greatly, winning every game! Great things were in store for him, Adelaide knew.


It was no surprise to her that he had won the SimCity Spelling Bee and come home with a new friend.


Alain wasn't the only one doing well, though. Adelaide considered herself blessed to have two boys with A+ report cards. They certainly would show that headmaster that he'd made the right choice admitting her boys.


That night when Armand got home, he and Adelaide sat down for a quiet dinner together. Adelaide told him how well their boys were doing.


Armand went upstairs afterward to give his son a congratulatory tickle. Alain squeeled with delight until Armand folded him into a tight hug. "I am so proud of you, son," Armand said, voice a bit throaty. "I know, papa," Alain replied, chipper.


"Do you want to help me with my homework, papa?" Alain asked, much to Armand's happiness. "Absolutely," Armand replied, and stood behind Alain, giving him tips as he scribbled in his composition notebook.


Arnaud played chess with the friend Alain brought home, Gordon Despret. He was a pretty bright child, Arnaud thought, happy that Alain was making friends in the new town. That was more than he could say. Sometimes, Arnaud felt painfully lonesome in Rosebud. He was shy and didn't make friends as fast as the rest of his family members. He hoped someday he'd meet a nice friend...or a nice girl...


That night, Armand snuggled up with his wife. "So what are your thoughts on being seduced by a handsome Frenchman?" Armand asked. Apparently, her thoughts on the matter were positive. The Beaumonts found their little family's success to be a very potent aphrodesiac.


The next day at school, Alain got asked to pick the class activity for the afternoon. He thought dodgeball seemed kind of mean, so he picked kickball.


It turned out to be a great choice! Everyone had a blast playing, and Alain brought Gordon home again.


Armand was there to greet Alain as he got off the bus, giving him a congratulatory hug. Alain explained why he'd chosen kickball instead of dodgeball, and Armand ruffled his hair, again blown away with pride for his children. "I think that was a very nice thing to do, Alain," Armand said simply, sending up a silent thanks for this wonderful family.


When Adelaide got home from work, she sat down to play chess some more with Alain. The boy loved it, and it was a nice way for them to bond.


In the meantime, Arnaud, who was a bit of a neatnik, was carrying the trash out when he spotted a gorgeous blonde walking by their house. She waved at him and called a hello, and Arnaud managed to untie his tongue long enough to make her acquaintance. She said her name was Meadow Thayer, and she lived nearby. They chatted for a while before Meadow flipped her hair and said goodbye, explaining her Mom was expecting her. "...bye..." Arnaud mumbled at her back, biting his lip as he noticed how shapely her retreating form was.


His daze was broken when his Papa and Alain came outside to play, his brother's squeals of delight shaking loose his stare down the sidewalk.


Arnaud went inside, somewhat dreamily, to play some video games and daydream about Meadow.


Alain did very well at school, but it always took a long time for him to feel happy after he came home. It wasn't that he didn't like school, it was just...well, it wasn't very much fun. And doing homework DEFINITELY wasn't very much fun. Alain needed more fun in his life, he decided.


Meanwhile, Adelaide decided she needed more grease in her life. She got the idea while talking to a co-worker to buy an old car and work on fixing it up. It would help her become more mechanical, AND it would ultimately save the family money because she could buy a fixer-upper way cheaper than any other car.



That night, the Beaumonts saw the first heavy snow of the season. It blanketed everything in a gorgeous coat of white that was unsullied by tons of traffic, people tromping through it, and all the other things that turned pristine snowfall into dirty slush in the city they'd left behind.


Adelaide got home just in time that night before the roads were coated with snow, and she brought home another promotion! Things were going more wonderfully at work than she could have hoped for.


In the morning, the boys awoke to see that it had continued to snow all night, and the schools closed down. To say they were excited was an understatement.


At the encouragement of his Mama, Alain did take time to do his homework first though, with Arnaud's help. Then he had the rest of the day scott free for fun.


Like playing red hands with Arnaud.


Alain hugged Arnaud tightly, knowing that his brother would be going off to college soon and very sad to see him go. "Do you promise you'll come home and visit?" Alain asked, unwilling to unlock his arms from around Arnaud's neck. "Of course, you goof. You can even come visit," Arnaud promised.

Alain spent the rest of the day playing with the new easel Adelaide had purchased for the family.



That afternoon, Armand brought home a friend from work. A very pregnant friend named Samantha Ottomas.


They chatted until dusk, and Armand found the unwed Samantha very charming. He definitely felt attracted to her, how round and full of life she seemed, her cheeks rosy and embodying the very image of health and fertility. It made him crave Adelaide, and he politely said goodnight to Samantha, who he mercifully didn't realize was quietly fantasizing about having a husband like Armand all to herself.


Inside, Adelaide was already in her pajamas for the night, and she slid on top of him, warm and smelling of soap. "Adelaide?" he asked, in between her kisses. "What do you think about having another baby?" She paused in kissing him and cuddled up next to him. "Do you want another baby?" she asked, mentally asking herself the same thing. "I think I do," Armand replied, searching her face. Adelaide thought quietly for a few moments. Arnaud would be going off to college soon, and Alain would be a teen himself any day. She always had wanted a girl, and things were going so well in this new town. It was a wonderful place to raise a baby... "I think I do too," she finally answered with a smile, and they slid under the covers.



The next morning, they all sat down to another yummy breakfast by Arnaud. They talked about where he would go to college and what scholarships he might get. "I think I want to study cooking. Or maybe science!" Arnaud explained enthusiastically. He was sad about leaving the family but very excited to go to school.

He already qualified for the Scholar's Grant thanks to his good grades, and he knew that if he could get just a little bit better at cooking, he could probably get a culinary grant too. He was planning on sticking around until Alain's birthday in a few days, and then he would be heading off to school. Hopefully, it would be just enough time for him to really become skilled in the kitchen and earn a bit of extra money for school.


That is...if he didn't get distracted. That afternoon, Meadow stopped by again to visit. Arnaud couldn't get over how pretty she was.



Not only that, she could talk sports even better than he could. She was definitely crushworthy material.

As he hugged her goodbye, he felt himself sadden. Meadow probably had a dozen boyfriends that were way more suave than Arnaud. He waved goodbye to her and headed indoors, moping as he shuffled his feet. It wasn't like he'd have time before he went away to school anyway. He probably would never see her again.


He had more important things to worry about than trying to win over Meadow anyway, he knew, and picked up the paintbrush, letting his mind wander with his brush.


Later that day, Armand came home with a promotion. Now he would be a substitute teacher: a job he knew would, in all likelihood, be MORE challenging than if he were a regular teacher. Alain was getting off the schoolbus at the same time his papa got home.


He gave his papa a congratulatory hug.



More congratulations were in order when Adelaide returned home with a promotion of her own and MUCH better hours. Both parents were moving up in their careers, their sons were A+ students in private school, Arnaud with scholarships to college. Life couldn't really get better for the Beaumonts.


Alain accidentally stirred up a bees nest while he was catching bugs outside that day, but fortunately, he was faster at running than the bees were at flying and safely crashed in the front door, slamming it behind him.


That night, after the swarm disappeared, he ventured outside to reclaim the jar of bugs he'd collected but dropped in his haste to excape the bees. He met a nice dog named Baron. He wished his mama and papa would let him adopt an animal, though he would have preferred a kitten to a dog. It was fun playing with Baron though.


That night, once Alain was in bed, Arnaud came upstairs and looked at his sleeping brother. He was already beginning to grow up. Arnaud was sad he couldn't stay here with his little brother and watch him grow up, but he knew Alain would be just fine. He kissed him goodnight and tucked him in, then went to bed himself.


The next day was Alain's birthday, and Vincente Villalobos happened to stop by while taking a walk to explore the town a bit.



Arnaud invited Meadow over again as well, figuring he may as well spend a little time with her before he went away to college, enjoying her company one last time.



They all gathered in the kitchen with noisemakers, Alain standing in front of his birthday cake. He blew out the candles...



And grew into a very handsome young man!

Alain Beaumont, Teen Family Sim, LTW Reach Golden Anniversary

Adelaide gave him a present, one she thought a teen boy might like. He opened it right away. "A stereo!? Thanks, Mama!" he exclaimed, unpacking it and plugging it in. "Let's smustle, everybody!"


They all smustled late into the night, turning Alain's birthday into a real party.


Early the next morning, Arnaud packed up his things, having achieved both of his goals: staying to see Alain transition into a teen and gaining enough cooking skill to get the culinary scholarship.


How will Alain fare as a teen? Will all the boot-knocking Armand and Adelaide did lead to a new bundle of joy in the Beaumont home? What lies in store for Arnaud at school? We'll find out, but first, let's check in with the Vinci brothers.

~*~*~*~*~

Scoring:

No new points.

Net worth to be added to the neighborhood total: $28,069

[[Author's notes: I made a few changes to my game in between round 1 and round 2. I installed the twojeffs' Inteenimater hack with the Same Sex Pregnancy, Silent Pregnancy, Risky Runaway, Risky Sneakout, Risky Honeymoon, and I Love Kittens flavor paks. I mostly did this for the risky woohoo feature and the fertility and birth control functionality of it. I like the idea of pregnancies being a bit more random and realistic...i.e. that if you aren't using birth control, you have a chance of getting pregnant whether you are deliberately trying for a baby or not, that you can use birth control to narrow your chances of pregnancy, and that you don't know IMMEDIATELY after climax whether you're pregnant. :p I also think the Risky Runaway/Sneakout stuff is realistic, though I don't exactly plan on having a neighborhood full of preggo teens. I'm not sure I'm down with the idea of possible miscarriages, but...I'm going to leave out the No Miscarriage flavor pak for now and play it by ear. Same Sex Pregnancy is because I have devious plans for a same sex couple that would make beeyuteeful babies, and I want the option to do that. :)

Also, I updated my graphics driver, which it was recommended to me can fix the bug I was experiencing with teens and children and the school bus. It seems to have fixed the problem, though we'll see in other households (The Beaumonts never had the bug to begin with, so I'm curious to try it on a lot that DID originally have the problem). It does, however, make my game run hella faster, so I highly recommend doing this, even though it's a long, confusing, and tedious process.

Okay, enough business! I love The Beaumonts. They are so cute and nuclear and perfect. It's nice to have a traditional family in the neighborhood since like every other family is a broken home due to one thing or another. I really, really, really want Adelaide to have a girl, so I'm hoping all the boot-knocking she and Armand did this round turn into a pregnancy! Thanks to Inteen, she was able to take fertility drugs, so I'm thinking it shouldn't be long before she's got a bun in the oven. And how utterly adorable is teen Alain!? :') So cute. I have plans for this little one with his adorable LTW of reaching his golden anniversary. Can't wait to see Arnaud in school and get back to this household!

I've also decided that I want to start including a downloadable mp3 that I feel fits with the theme of each entry. I think it's fun, and it satisfies my inner music junkie.

This entry's MP3:
Boby Cheri by Emily Loizeau (from the album L'Autre Bout de Monde)


I leave you with some more funnies:
What is this, Nannypalooza? // You're gross, Armand. // It's totally your fault we have this many nannies around, isn't it, Armand? // You're gross too, Rose Dai. He's like 16.]]