The Beaumonts (B) - Round 7

Starring:

Arnaud Beaumont, Adult Romance Sim, LTW Become Celebrity Chef

Steffi Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Reach Golden Anniversary

Bastien Beaumont, Infant Knowledge Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Beaumont house, Arnaud proposed and got married to Steffi Beaumont, his long-term romantic interest. She got pregnant with their first child, Bastien, and gave birth. Arnaud needed a job to support his family and got a position in the journalism field, reaching the top of the career track. Will he get a job in the culinary field this round? How will he handle a wife and child? We'll see in round 7.

Steffi loved being a wife and mother. Sure, there were unpleasant parts about it, like cleaning up trash and spraying cockroaches, but she ADORED it. She had never wanted anything but to be a wife and mother, and now she had both of those things. She knew Arnaud wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of being married, but she trusted him to be faithful, and that made life okay.



Soon, it was time for Bastien's birthday. Steffi was looking forward to his toddler years, as was Arnaud - his personality would finally get a chance to shine a bit.



He turned out to be a beautiful young boy with his father's coloration. Blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes, and a wonderful personality.



Like his father, Bastien was exceedingly neat, which was just fine with Arnaud, who sometimes felt frustrated with how messy Steffi could be. With two neatniks in the house, Arnaud figured they could keep the place ship-shape no matter how sloppy Steffi tended to be.



With all of the successes he began to see in his new career and with his novel-writing career at home, Arnaud felt he could finally begin to focus on something else besides romance. He decided that at this age, even though he hadn't achieved what he hoped to with his life, he should focus on doing things that made him happy, so he chose a secondary pleasure aspiration.




Of course, having been raised in a strong family situation, one of the things that made him happy was spending time with his son, Bastien. Arnaud spent hours teaching Bastien the skills he needed to know as a toddler, from walking to talking to potty training.




As for Bastien, when he wasn't busy learning important skills, he enjoyed playing with his music toy the most. His ear was surprisingly developed for a toddler, and he could be found plinking away at the keys for hours unattended.




As for Steffi, while Bastien entertained himself with the musical toys, she entertained herself by planting a garden, which she figured could both entertain her and provide important produce for the family at very little cost.



At work, Arnaud tries his hand at being honest with his boss, even though it's a potentially bad situation. He makes the wrong decision and is demoted severely for what his boss takes to be his brutal honesty.




No matter what he does, Arnaud seems to be unfit for the working world. No matter how hard he tries, and in various fields, it seems he only ever gets demoted or fired for his poor choices. It was a crushing blow to him to be demoted yet again, especially when he had a wife and child to provide for.



The only thing he could do is fall into his newest theory: do what makes you feel good at the time. So, he drew himself a bubble bath and escaped into the world of hot water, steam, and bubbles until he could bring himself to face his family.




Fortunately, it didn't take long until he was promoted again and came home with a big bonus that the family could use. It seemed as though he could never make the proper choices when faced with difficult decisions, but if he simply worked hard and kept his head down, he got promoted accordingly.




Steffi, in the meantime, continued with her little garden and eventually earned her bronze gardening badge, allowing her to plant something more than tomatoes, of which the family already had an abundance.



Arnaud decided it was time for a lateral move in his career...especially since he'd kept his eyes peeled for a position in his favored career track all along. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he quit his job in the journalism field and took a job as an executive chef, hoping finally to achieve his goal of becoming a celebrity chef.




Since he already had all the necessary skills to be a celebrity chef, Arnaud got promoted his first day at work, when his boss saw that he was far over qualified for the position he'd taken. Nevertheless, Arnaud was careful not to get his hopes up in light of his past failures in his careers.



Fortunately, his home life was as happy as ever. It was soon time for Bastien's birthday, and Arnaud made him a beautiful birthday cake with Bastien's name stenciled on the top.



Bastien grew up looking like a true Beaumont, with the tell-tale blonde hair and blue eyes his father and uncles had.



Arnaud decided that since Bastien was now a child, he was old enough to qualify for private school, and so a meeting was set up with the headmaster of Rosebud Academy to evaluate the Beaumont home and Bastien's worthiness to be a student.




Somewhat to the surprise of his parents, Bastien carried the primary load of entertaining the headmaster. The older man was completely charmed by Bastien's good manners and bright conversation, and paired with Arnaud's cooking, the headmaster was convinced Bastien was a shoe-in.



He signed papers admitting Bastien that very night, and Steffi and Arnaud went to bed bursting with pride for their little boy and his achievement.



The next day, Bastien headed off for his first day at Rosebud Academy, continuing the tradition that had been upheld by the generation prior to his in the Beaumont family.



Arnaud, having learned by now never to count his chickens before they hatched, continued writing his food-themed novels and selling them to bring in additional income. If there was one thing Arnaud understood, it was that no job was permanent, and he wanted to make sure his family had all the money they needed to survive no matter what happened in his new career. He hoped for the best but prepared for the worst - a theme that was quickly becoming gospel in the second generation Beaumont home.


[[Author's Notes: Poor Arnaud. He really has terrible luck with jobs. Every time he gets a break, he loses it again...usually due to a poor chance card. I really have my doubts he'll ever achieve his LTW, though at least he's in the proper field and can continue to work toward the goal even if he ages to elder in the next round. Steffi pretty much takes care of the house and gardens all day, as her primary hobby interest is nature, and Bastien mostly hangs out and is adorable. Pretty simple house, easy to play.

Bloopers:
I love how Arnaud looks utterly horrified that his small child is expressing his attraction to an adult woman. // Steffi reads calmly to Bastien while the breadfruit tree in their backyard provides a peaceful blaze to keep them warm. ]]