The Clearys (A) - Round 12

Starring:

Neal Cleary, Adult Knowledge Sim, 2nd LTW Become Chief of Staff

Colm Cleary, Elder Popularity Sim, LTW Have 20 Simultaneous Best Friends

Michelle Cleary, Elder Fortune Sim, 2nd LTW Become City Planner

Tessa Cleary, Adult Knowledge Sim, LTW Become Head of SCIA

Tallulah Cleary, Child Knowledge Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

Phoenix Cleary, Toddler Romance Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Cleary house, Neal was suffering from the symptoms of pregnancy thanks to his abduction by aliens, and he eventually gave birth to a son, Phoenix Cleary. Tallulah aged into a beautiful young girl, and Tessa managed to reach TOC in the entertainment field, winning her perma-plat status. She quickly got a job in her new career-of-choice: Intelligence. Colm earned a hobby plaque for gardening, and Michelle and he both spent loads of time with their grandchildren. Neal eventually got a job in his new chosen field: medicine. Phoenix aged well into a toddler. Though the Clearys were overcrowding the house, they thrived happily. Let's see how they do this round.




Life was happy in the Cleary house. Colm especially loved spending time with his grandchildren and could frequently be found in the nursery with Phoenix or playing a rousing game of red hands with Tallulah. Colm had to admit that despite losing his first wife, his family had turned out to be pretty beautiful anyway.




Neal and Tessa were especially grateful for Neal's parents, as it meant the kids never had to be kept by a babysitter or a nanny. This left them lots of space to really try to achieve their goals in their careers before the time when Colm and Michelle were no longer around to help out.



Tallulah was turning out to be quite a social young lady, bringing friends home from school often and playing the night away on the lovely grounds of the Cleary house. One thing was for sure: their home was never boring.




Tessa was gung-ho about her new career in the intelligence field and was constantly trying to better her skills in such areas like surveillance. Plus, it was admittedly kind of fun getting to spy on her neighbors with some of the cool equipment she brought home from work.




Colm, when he wasn't helping out with his grandchildren or puttering around in his garden, was still trying to achieve his lifetime goal: to have 20 simultaneous best friends. If he could do that, he would be the most popular man in Rosebud, and what a feat that would be! He was always particularly glad when he found a new friend like Pao Mellon, who shared a love for his second-favorite thing in life: grilled cheese.




He was constantly inviting over new potential friends, including Conor Vinci's new, young wife, the very pregnant Frances Vinci. Colm felt that he was happiest surrounded by his family, but when his family was at work or school, only a constant stream of friends and other guests kept him content.



Tessa and Neal took full advantage of having a stay-at-home grandpa to watch after Phoenix, striving as hard as they could to reach new heights in their careers. After all, they wanted to give their children the best life possible, and making as much money and earning as much job security as they could was a great way to go about it.




Tessa headed out to her new position, looking like a super-hot super-spy.





Apparently, the outfit worked for her, and something worked well for Neal, because they both came home shortly thereafter with more promotions. Apparently, Tessa's boss thought she looked slutty and demoted her, so Neal got the jewel in his crown that day. Also, their simgod, me, was proven very unobservant. :p Oops.




Life wasn't only about work though. It was also about important family milestones like the monumentous birthday that would turn Tallulah from a lovely child into a lovely teen.




She grew up to favor her mother even more than she had as a child, if such a thing was possible, but that soft mouth of Neal's remained to mark the mixing of her parents' genes.




Tallulah decided that she really wanted to be one of those hot smart chicks... the kind that wore glasses and studied hard but could also be a bombshell. Someday, she hoped that between her brains and her beauty, she could find a man with an unusual love for face paint and cooking who was totally uncharismatic.




With a new makeover for her new teen body, Tallulah felt like she was ready to take on the world...or at least Rosebud.




Hers wasn't the only birthday that season, though. Little Phoenix was finally ready to become a more self-sufficient child. Daddy Neal held him up to the birthday cake, and it seemed like the little boy grew before their eyes.




Little Phoenix was starting to look like the spitting image of his daddy, though his nose definitely showed signs of his otherwordly daddy as well.




With promotions frequently occurring and the family quickly beginning to outgrow the Cleary home, Tessa and Neal decided to add on to the top floor. A new master bedroom was created, and their former bedroom became a play room with a nursery attached. Why did they need a nursery?




Well, because they were young and weren't nearly ready to stop building their family yet.







Tallulah and Phoenix had to share a bedroom, which wasn't exactly ideal for a male child and a female teenager, but the two of them got along well enough that it would do in a pinch. Tallulah would be going off to college soon anyway, and Neal and Tessa hoped the neutral tri-color bedroom of No Particular Gendered Coloration would do until then.





Michelle, of course, was still around and kicking. Kicking so much that she still went to work as a business tycoon every single day, bringing home both money and a sense of pride that she was still a shark in the board room at this age. Not that she didn't have a softer side, as her freshly-acquired bronze gardening badge would prove.




Colm, with a little bit more free time now that the kids were getting older, finally was able to achieve his lifetime goal of having 20 simultaneous best friends. Now he could die happy: he was the most popular man in Rosebud.
.




Well, at least he was the most popular man with the humans in Rosebud. He would have liked to be the most popular man in Rosebud with the animals too, but he wasn't sure if he could do it.



Instead, he decided to focus on becoming even more popular with Rosebud's residents. He wanted to leave a legacy of being well-loved by the entire town.




Though Tallulah had to admire her grandfather's determination to be friendly with the entire town's populous, she had to admit that she found her father's goals to be much more noble. She decided she wanted to be a chief of staff, just like her daddy.





And speaking of her daddy, he was slowly making his way up the career food chain in the medical field. It wouldn't be long before he was truly at the top of his game.




Despite somewhat cramped living conditions that may have driven other siblings apart, Tallulah and Phoenix grew closer to each other as they got older.





Tallulah even took time to help Phoenix with his homework when he asked, which was good since she was intelligent and since their parents were sometimes not available in the evenings due to weird work schedules.





Tessa received another promotion, coming one step closer to her goal of becoming head of the SCIA in Rosebud. It was the last promotion she would receive for a while, however.




Soon afterward, her doctor confirmed that she was pregnant again, a joyous thing for everyone in the Cleary house. She promptly went on maternity leave to take care of herself and her new unborn baby...but it didn't mean she gave up on studying so that when she went back to work she could kick into high gear.




On the other end of the spectrum, Michelle had decided that it was finally time for her to retire from her job. She was tired of being away from her husband and her grandchildren and her garden, and with a new baby on the way, she wanted to have all the time she needed to really enjoy being with her family in her old age.




Her family was, after all, so precious to her, and she wanted to be there to cheer on every A+ report card for her grandchildren...





...and every career promotion for her son and daughter-in-law. She couldn't think of a better reason to retire.


[[Author's Notes: Whee!! This house is turning fun again! After Tallulah turned out so gorgeous as a teen (though a bit angular like her mother), I decided that Neal and Tessa needed to get working on producing an enormous brood of Clearys. The Cleary surname is the least popular in the neighborhood (only this household and Tara carry it), so I really want to get the neighborhood populated with some more Irish bébés. Expect these two to breed as long as I can stand the chaos. :) I have no idea how close Colm and Michelle are to dying, though I have mixed feelings about it. The family needs the room to expand, but the free familial childcare is awesome. Also, I'm kind of attached to my little Colm...I will be particularly sad to see him go. Though as much as I love him, there is no friggin' way he's even attempting 20 pet best friends at this age. Come on, Colm! But anyway, I love this house, and I love this family. Only a few bloopers for you!

Bloopers:
Do you think that's a good idea in your condition, Frances? // I SEE YOU, BRAD DEVIVIO, STEALING OUR NEWSPAPER! >:O You only look sweet and innocent... // Hm. This is a bit worrisome... // Synchronized studying. You can see how much Tallulah looks like her Mom. ]]