The Beaumonts (B) - Round 11

Starring:

Arnaud Beaumont, Elder Romance Sim, 2nd LTW

Steffi Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Reach Golden Anniversary

Bastien Beaumont, Teen Knowledge Sim, LTW Become Game Designer

Bijou Beaumont, Child Knowledge Sim, LTW Grow Up Well


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Beaumont house, Bastien and Bijou worked on their skilling, including getting study homework from Steffi. Arnaud became quite the arts renaissance man, taking up painting to add as a hobby to his novel writing and restaurant guide writing hobbies. Steffi maximized her cooking skill and got a brand new kitchen from Arnaud as a reward. Bijou proved herself to be daddy's little girl, got into private school, and came home with her first A+ report card. Let's check in with them again in round 11.

Sadness was the first thing to strike the Beaumont house in the very early days of spring. Adelaide had passed away, and the younger children mourned a grandmother while Arnaud mourned his mother. He was pleased with the inheritance, to be sure, but he would have gladly traded it to have his maman back.




Bastien, too, seemed to be struck particularly hard by the death of Adelaide, the loss sending him into a spiral of teen depression. He had hopes of getting a girlfriend a few weeks ago, but now all he wanted to do was spend time with his books and not really talk to anyone outside his family. Even inside the family, he barely spoke more than a few words at a time.



He and Bijou often spent time quietly together, Bastien reading a book while Bijou played on her drawing table or built towers with blocks. Steffi and Arnaud worried about Bastien, but he wasn't shirking his schoolwork or wearing black eyeliner or sneaking out, so they hoped it was just a temporary sadness brought on by the first death in the family he'd experienced.




The only thing Bastien knew that would keep his mind off his grandmother and how short life seemed to be sometimes was to work. At what, it didn't matter, but he had a thirst for knowledge, and only more knowledge would slake that thirst. After a month or so with his head buried in books or his jump rope whistling through the air, he finally felt better. He felt like he could stop some of this needless pressuring himself, and more than that, he felt really content. He was old enough and skilled enough that he could finally contemplate the next big step in his life: college.




He applied for his scholarships (and snagged a bundle of them) and packed up his belongings. It was still mid-spring, but there was housing available on campus and a few summer programs he was interested in looking into, so he wasted no time in heading out.





Bye, Bastien! See you at uni!



Life continued more or less as usual in the house. Steffi tended to her plants and got a few new fruit trees, which were suffering mightily in the cold snaps that spring brought interspersed with warmer days.



And of course, there was the matter of little Bijou, who wasn't to be little any longer. One chilly evening, she stood before her cake and blew out her candles.



She seemed to grow like a weed before Steffi and Arnaud's eyes into a beautiful young girl.



She thought of Bastien when her parents asked her what she might want to do when she got older, and her answer was immediate. She wanted to focus on her education like Bastien, to go to college and learn everything she could and keep learning even after she graduated.




Since Bastien had moved out, the house had an extra room, and Bijou pleaded with her parents to make a little bit more room for her, since her childhood bedroom was barely the size of a closet. They complied, with a little bit of construction and redecorating, and thus her old bedroom became a large shared bathroom, and the new space became a haven for Bijou.




Plus, there was the added bonus that now she was a teenager, she could get away with a little makeup. Or at least, she could buy it at the mall and put it on on the bus so her parents wouldn't yell at her... That paired with new duds made her feel like the queen of the world.




Arnaud and Steffi really felt as though they'd done an amazing job raising their children. Arnaud overcame his former desires to chase ladies around, and Steffi had done an amazing job of domesticating him into a proper husband, allowing him to be the fantastic father she always knew he would be. They rewarded themselves for all their years of hard work.



It occurred to both Steffi and Arnaud too that Steffi couldn't stay young and in her prime forever. It was her turn for a birthday.




She aged into a graceful older woman, and Arnaud couldn't help but think that he couldn't believe how many years they'd been together and how happy those years had been.




Even Bijou had to admit that her mom looked pretty good...for an old lady.



Bijou had no such problem and was young enough that she couldn't even imagine the day when she might have gray hair. Since she'd started high school, she was more popular than ever. It wasn't like she tried to be popular, but people seemed to gravitate toward her. She wasn't dumb...she knew the boys thought she was pretty, but she did her best to get along with everyone, and her sunny nature didn't hurt.





Of course, she couldn't help but enjoy the boys liking her, though. It was flattering when they flirted with her or paid her compliments, and it gave her a little flush of excitement whenever they did. Homer Tanaka was a nice kid, but she couldn't see herself with him. At least not right now. There were too many other boys to talk to!




She and her new BFF, another pretty, popular high school girl, agreed that they shouldn't settle down to anyone anyway. EVERYONE knew that college boys were WAY hotter.


[[Author's Notes: Squee!!! I love this house! Though I have to admit it's mostly because I love Bijou! She turned out prettier than I could have ever hoped, and she's such a little social bunny! Constantly bringing friends home from school, and I can just imagine Bijou being at the center of the "in" crowd. I almost feel like knowledge is the wrong aspiration for her. Maybe I'll see how she does in uni for a round or two and decide whether to reroll her after her sophomore year. I think pretty much anything would suit her better than knowledge, even though I loooove my knowledge simmies. It occured to me as I was blogging this house that I never threw an anniversary party for Arnaud and Steffi and thus never fulfilled her LTW. That will be rectified next round. And look forward to Bastien at the end of this round in Sim State!

Bloopers:
That's real dedication, Tara, walking around to the BACK of the house to kick over the trash. Who put a bug up your butt? // Arnaud...hey...Arnaud....you're really kind of in my shot, dude. Mind scooting over a bit? // Not a blooper, just a picture that I think is pretty. // And two ... more gratuitous shots of Bijou because I'm totally in love with this sim. ]]