The Beaumonts (B) - Round 10

Starring:

Steffi Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Reach Golden Anniversary

Arnaud Beaumont, Elder Romance Sim, 2nd LTW

Bastien Beaumont, Teen Knowledge Sim, LTW

Bijou Beaumont, Child Knowledge Sim, LTW Grow Up Well


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Beaumont house was birthday party madness! Bastien aged into a teen, Arnaud aged into an elder, and Bijou had two birthdays...from infant to toddler and from toddler to child. Steffi got pretty sick of baking birthday cakes. Steffi earned a gold gardening badge, Arnaud retired and kept writing novels, and Bijou toddled around the house learning stuff. Let's see how the older (and wiser?) family will do in round 10.

Setting: Winter, Beaumont House, Rosebud. Sim: A teenage Bastien. Activity: Building Charisma. Why, you ask? Well because he is a good-looking boy, and though he's not arrogant, he has seen the looks that girls in his high school give him. The only problem is he doesn't know how to talk to them. Thus, his goal to practice his romancing skills until he can earn himself a girlfriend of his very own.




Others in the house pursue their goals as well, but they're a bit simpler. Arnaud was really becoming a fine arts renaissance man. Between his novels and his painting, the house head a steady income supplementing his retirement checks, and they really needed it thanks to the prospect of two children who would eventually need to go to college.



Especially since both of them were very focused on knowledge. Steffi and Arnaud never had to nag either Bastien or Bijou to complete their studies. In fact, Bijou actually requested that Steffi help her with her homework so she could learn how to do it better.




And it didn't stop with schoolwork. Bijou sucked up information like a little blonde sponge, whether it be from her activity table, learning the basics of mechanics with her blocks, from drawing and learning some of the artistic skills she'd seen her father master, or watching the food channel and picking up cooking tips for when she was old enough to be allowed to use the stove.





And speaking of stoves, Arnaud and Steffi decided that it was finally time for them to replace their gross old kitchen with its cheap cabinets and cheap appliances. Steffi had been learning to cook as well, sometimes under the tutelage of Arnaud and sometimes from the cookbooks they had stacked on their shelves. Both decided they wanted something just a little nicer, and voila. It was still small, but the look and quality was vastly improved.




Wanting to use the new kitchen to its best possibility inspired Steffi to renew her learning with a passion. She quickly reached top enthusiasm in all things culinary.


Shortly after came the obvious result that she'd become an expert at cooking. She still bowed to Arnaud and his years of experience, but she now had all the technical know-how she would need to become a truly great cook.





Arnaud kept writing and selling his novels and restaurant guides, every royalty check cushioning their savings.




When he wasn't painting or writing, he was spending time with Bijou, who was definitely a little bit Daddy's Little Princess. She gravitated toward him naturally and vice versa, especially since Arnaud could see in her the same interests that drove him. They frequently talked about cooking and art, in addition to what was going on in her day-to-day school life.




It was out of one of these discussions that Arnaud decided to call the local headmaster and have him come for a visit, to see if he would admit Bijou and Bastien into the Rosebud Academy. Steffi cooked, showing off some of her new skills, and Arnaud wisely let Bijou do most of the talking. Bastien was equally as intelligent, but he wasn't as outgoing, and Bijou simply chattered away, impressing the headmaster both with her confidence and her intelligence.




By the end of the night, the headmaster was shaking Arnaud's hand and gladly accepting the Beaumont children into the local private school.




By the end of the week, both children had gotten their uniforms and had paperwork transferred from the public school to the academy.




By the end of the month, they were coming home with A+ report cards.




Arnaud was never prouder of his children than at the moment when I got to stand up from his novel and cheer for his little superstar.



[[Author's Notes: I'm looking forward to getting back to this house again. Bijou is going to be such a pretty girl, I think, and I have to wonder after looking at the pictures I snapped of this house if I'm guilty of a little favoritism. I know that Bastien was there! He didn't go away to college! Yet it seemed like Bijou just inserted herself as the star of the story. I tell you what, too, that girl is the apple of Arnaud's eye. It's pretty sweet. I think maybe Steffi turns elder in round 11, so we'll see! A few bloopers for you.

Bloopers:
Mess-ery loves company? // Linda seems slightly taken aback at the fact that Arnaud is rudely bathing while she wants to yell at him for spying. // It doesn't last long. She just lectures him in the tub. // "If things go well, I'll be showing her my 'oh' face. Oooh, oooh, oooh." ]]