The Beaumonts (A) - Round 11

Starring:

Armand Beaumont, Elder Family Sim, 2nd LTW Marry Off 6 Children

Adelaide Beaumont, Elder Knowledge Sim, 3rd LTW Eat 200 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Cooper Bigfoot, Adult Bigfoot, LTW Become Education Minister

Alexandre Beaumont, Adult Knowledge Sim, LTW Become City Planner


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Beaumont house, Cooper continued to work toward his LTW of becoming Education Minister. He and Adelaide and Armand enjoyed a peaceful existence together, and the Beaumonts even allowed him to watch after the house while they went on one last vacation tour, trying to collect all the vacation mementos. (They ultimately failed at this.) Let's see how they do this round, while Alexandre rejoins the household after graduating from university.



The first thing the Beaumonts did when Alexandre returned home was to add a small addition onto the back of the house for an additional bedroom. After all, they didn't really want to sacrifice their study OR their art studio. Alexandre was happy to have his own little corner of the house.




Cooper continued to come home with good reviews from the school, much to the pride of Adelaide and Armand, who had come almost to feel like he was an adopted son. Yet they stopped short of telling him what he should and shouldn't so and simply were proud of him.



Alexandre, luckily enough, found a very high position in his chosen field right away. He couldn't wait to get his drafting table and start working on house plans and then city plans. The studious man wasn't one to let his dreams get away.




He found that despite the insane amount of studying he'd done in his teen and young adult years, there were still some skills he really needed to polish in order to be truly successful in the architecture career.



Of course, there was always time for fun too. One thing Alexandre had learned from being in the Greek House was that it was a good thing to take a break from studying once in a while and simply enjoy spending time with the people around him. Especially since his parents were getting older...he was worried they might not be around much longer, despite how strong and energetic they still seemed.




Armand, too, took time out to really pursue his hobbies. He found that his painting really calmed him and made the hours fly by in pleasant silence and contemplation of color and form.





Cooper had more good news: he finally achieved his goal of becoming the education minister of Rosebud. He found out that he was the first bigfoot to ever have earned that achievement. Adelaide and Armand were bursting with pride. Even Alexandre was impressed with the big hairy creature he was starting to grow more fond of day by day.




He decided that next he might like to try Journalism. After all, he had a lot of experienced he wanted to share with the world, to increase tolerance of Bigfoots in mainstream society.




On the other end of the work spectrum, Adelaide and Armand finally decided that their working days could be over. All of their children had graduated from college, and they were as comfortable in their finances as they had ever been. The break was long overdue for both of these hardworking parents.



The two of them had a lot to remember from their long lives as well. Armand actually managed to get good enough in his painting to sell a masterpiece.



And they'd had so many wonderful vacations. They'd had a lot more happiness than they ever would have if they hadn't moved their family to that tiny, unpopulated town of Rosebud so many years ago.




Sadly, Adelaide could tell that she was slowing down. She'd forced herself to go to work, but it had been getting harder and harder every day. Though she tried not to make a big deal out of it, she began planning for the time when she would no longer be around. She started by giving Alexandre a lot of little things she'd collected over the years, saying simply that she had no use for them, and she wanted him to have them.



Alexandre was no dummy; he could see the tired wrinkles around his mother's eyes and the way she stooped all the time now, like her back had slowly bent into half of a set of parentheses. It made him unspeakably sad, but he thanked her as graciously as he could.



From that point on, Alexandre made it a point to try and make family meals so that they could all sit down and spend some quality time together. Now that he was finally allowing himself to accept what he didn't want to accept, that his parents wouldn't be around forever, he began to see that they had both aged quite a bit since he'd left home. His father slept more often and tired easily after a day of painting. It made Alex unspeakably sad, but he was determined to make the best of the remaining time he had with his parents.




Even Cooper seemed to sense the increased love in the house, and he frequently displayed it with his enormous bigfoot hugs, and Armand simply laughed away Alex's worries that his frail bones would snap under the tight embraces.





Of course, Adelaide and Armand got their fair share of quiet time together as well. Since they had both retired, their entire days were spent with one another and with the family. It was the happiest and most content they'd felt in years.





That was what made it so unspeakably hard when death finally came. Adelaide woke one night and found that her time on this earth was up. She didn't want to leave her family, but she knew it was time for her to go.




As she knew, she'd had a wonderful life, and Grimmy greeted her with such kindness (and such yummy polynesian drinks) that she could feel some peace of mind about leaving the mortal coil.



The will she'd prepared split up her remaining earthly goods amongst all those she loved, and she finally left the Beaumont household for the last time, leaving behind only the gleaming urn of a woman who had truly achieved all her goals in life.





The remaining family knew they should take comfort in this fact, but it didn't make it any easier. Alexandre and Armand and Cooper cried endlessly for a solid week after Adelaide's death. Even Abbey howled her laments.





It was after that week that, in broad daylight, Alex spotted Grim coming once again, and he rushed down to his father's bedroom, prepared to plead for the old man's life. It was too soon after Adelaide's death for him to handle another.



But it wasn't Armand's turn...it was poor, loyal Abbey's turn to join pet heaven. Cooper stood by helplessly while Grimmy gently and kindly whisked his best furry friend away into oblivion.



He was absolutely inconsolable. Abbey had been like a kindred spirit. Sure, she was a dog and couldn't talk or walk or anything like that...but he felt a certain relation with her, his sole furry companion in the house.



He tearfully requested that Abbey be buried back amongst the trees surrounding his rooms, so that he might visit it and also so that the neighborhood children wouldn't see it and kick it over in a fit of naughtiness. Alex and Armand sadly obliged, heartsick themselves at the sudden emptiness in the house.




The house took on a sad, mournful air, and the three remaining men of the household stuck together closely. Everyone, including Cooper, made sure to remind the others how much they loved them, every day.


[[Author's Notes: *sniff, sniff* Waaahh! My first CAS adult! And poor, sweet, hardworking Adelaide. It was so hard to see her go. I swear, when Grim came floating down the sidewalk like THE NEXT DAY, I knew it was going to be Armand. I never even saw it coming for Abbey. Poor fluffy puppy. Alex and Cooper are going to be alone in the house really soon, because Armand's meter is maxed. I might let Cooper get a puppy to soothe his poor, broken heart. Also, did you notice the pic of their vacation mementos? They missed it by ONE FREAKIN THING. I had them go to Takemizu Village like five times for one day trips every round I played them, and they NEVER saw someone doing tai chi. Growl. I wanted them to have at least that for being great CAS parents. Oh well. Guess someone else has to do it now. I move on to bloopers, to cheer you up from this depressing post.

Bloopers:
Cooper is really, REALLY sad about Abbey. // Are you rolling in Abbey's pee? That's disgusting. // AND NOW YOU'RE DRINKING IT? UGH. Find a pond! Sal and Inari have one! Go, fetch! Please! // In your son's bed? Really, guys. ]]