The Beaumonts (A) - Round 5

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

Armand Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Become Education Minister

Aurélie Beaumont, Child Family Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

Alexandre Beaumont, Child Knowledge Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last time at the Beaumonts', romance sparked between Alain and Meadow Thayer, who went on to university together. The twins transitioned from infants into toddlers, and from toddlers into children. Adelaide and Armand continued to slowly scratch their way up their career ladders.


Right off the bat, the Beaumonts were met with good news in the fall season. Aurélie, thanks to her addiction to jump rope, got an award at her school for her inclusion on the football team. The Beaumonts couldn't have been prouder; even though she was their only daughter, it was nice to see her succeed, even at something that seemed more likely for one of her three brothers.


Aurélie was decidedly headstrong as well. It was she who decided (after quietly consulting with her twin), that she should call and invite the headmaster of the local private school to come by for dinner, to see about accepting them. He agreed, and when Adelaide got home from work that night, Aurélie insisted she make dinner for their impending guest.


Alexandre actually did most of the work, giving the headmaster the tour and chatting with him about all things school related. In this way, Aurélie and Alexandre were a good team - she was good at setting plans in motion (no fear), and he was good at following through (always the responsible one). Their personalities couldn't have been more different, but they were as close as any set of twins could be.


The childrens' attempts (along with a little help from Adelaide and Armand) were successful, and the next day, they would start school as the newest members of Rosebud Academy.


The next morning, they jumped up, put on their uniforms and headed off to school, but not before escaping Adelaide's camera, to document the proud moment.


The twins weren't the only ones with good fortune in this season. Armand went to work and, thanks to a good decision involving a gelatin projector, came home with a much-needed bonus.


Adelaide, too, was making wise decisions that she needed in order to be promoted. Her generous heart and keen doctor's eye made a deep impression on the elderly and influential hospital tour group.


In fact, her superiors were so impressed with the outcry of positive attention, Adelaide came home with a promotion and some hours more befitting of a mother of young children. More normal hours and a closer connection with her patients - things were improving slowly but surely for Adelaide.


In the house, there was a pretty clear and common pattern exhibiting itself among parents and children. Alex was a bit of a mama's boy, and Aurélie was definitely daddy's little girl. More often than not, the four paired off this way, even when it came to homework.


All the hard work paid off, though, and before long, Aurélie and Alex both had A+ report cards. Adelaide and Armand joked that maybe they'd gotten their practice parenting in with the older boys and now were superstar child-rearers.


The kids continued to work and play well together, spending nearly 100% of their waking hours with one another, whether it be playing, in school, or doing homework.



Adelaide continued to impress her superiors at work.


And Armand got a promotion to high school teacher. Things weren't only coming up roses at the Beaumont household, they were coming up wildflowers and daisies and every other thing that could possibly mean good luck.


Adelaide raked in another promotion and still kept her reasonable hours, for which she was grateful. She didn't fondly remember the days when she was gone in the evening when the boys were home from school and sleeping during the day when they were away.


Thanks to a friend, she even got a promotion in the new position. Adelaide was starting to realize that word of mouth and reputation were more important than she could ever have imagined in this field. She thought she'd gotten away from that when she and Armand had moved from the city. Not that she was complaining. More money was always welcome with two young ones about to go to uni and one already there.


Her colleage even came one night with a gift in a large ag...


It turned out to be a karaoke machine, which was both unexpected and very welcome.


The family didn't exactly have tons of cash with all those mouths to feed and with helping out Arnaud in his new house from time to time, so an expensive and fun distraction like this was exactly what the family needed. Armand didn't even wait until morning to try it out.


And of course...like Daddy like Daughter.


The good luck kept rolling in all week. Armand got a huge bonus at work for wise clothing choices. Since things were going so well, Armand and Adelaide were compelled to honor a request the children had been begging for for months. They decided to adopt a dog.

It was important to Adelaide and Armand to get a dog that was intelligent and able to be trained, beyond what skills she already had. They had fairly small children in the house, and they wanted to make sure they could trust the animal, so they searched and finally fell in love with Abbey, an Akita who had just reached adulthood and had already learned a ton of skills.


The night she was dropped off, everyone rushed out to meet her. She seemed skittish, and Adelaide made sure to take the pup aside and get to know her better. The shelter had said Abbey came from a good home, but her owners had to move to another country and couldn't take Abbey with them. She was good, though a bit aggressive, and that had to be tamed right away.

She never showed aggression toward the children though, and in fact, she was quite well-behaved with them.


It was hard to tell whether Abbey or the children enjoyed showing off her skills better.



There were a few wet spots on the carpet and a few chewed chair legs, but for the most part, Abbey was a perfect angel and a great addition to the household.



The fall season ended with a spot of bad luck for both Adelaide and Armand, but they still knew that, despite the bumps in the road, their family was thriving.

Stay tuned for Gretchen and Sal in the Vinci household!

~*~*~*~*~

Scoring:

No new points.

[[Author's Notes: Abbey is so adorable; I love that pup. I have an admitted weakness for Akitas, though, so I was pleasantly surprised when that's the kind of dog that showed up. This round was like a study in how many positive chance cards one household can get before hitting critical mass. The answer: a lot. They're all happy and healthy in this house. Not much to say otherwise. Up next, the Vincis.

This Entry's MP3:
TBA

Bloopers:
Unique way to wash a dog. // Alex betrays his serious nature. // Not a blooper, but aw, I love little family scenes like this.]]