The Vincis (F) - Round 13

Starring:

Liam Vinci, Adult Popularity Sim, 2nd LTW Have 20 Simultaneous Pet Best Friends

Conor Vinci, Adult Family Sim, LTW Graduate 3 Children From University

Frances Vinci, Adult Family Sim, LTW Marry Off 6 Children

Jenny Vinci, Adult Popularity Sim, LTW Become Media Magnate

Lucia Vinci, Toddler Romance Sim, LTW Grow Up Well


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Vinci house, the four housemates began to really get to know and become close with one another. Conor reached the top of the education career, Liam reached the top of the law enforcement career (thus reaching his LTW), and the girls both made great progress in their own career tracks. Liam was abducted by aliens while trying to skill for his job, thereby getting pregnant, and Frances gave birth to she and Conor's first child, Lucia. Lucia aged up well from an infant to a toddler. Let's check in with them again this season...

In a house with four adults and one toddler, the toddler is queen. That was what little Lucia Vinci was discovering in her toddler years. There was always someone to play with her, always someone to give her a bottle, always someone to take her out of the crib or change her diaper. It was great. All the adults adored her, so there was never any shortage of people willing to take care of Lucia.





Jenny found that she was starting to have a bit of child envy. She, too, wanted to have a baby with her husband. Maybe not as many children as Conor and Frances wanted, but maybe one or two would be nice...




Unfortunately for Jenny, everyone else in the house seemed to be having luck with pregnancy except her. Frances was exhibiting the first signs of a second pregnancy.




As for Liam, he was a little farther along in the process. One sunny day, he started feeling spasming pains in his abdomen and felt sure it was because of his alien abduction. He'd heard rumors about men becoming impregnated by aliens in this town, and sure he'd been putting on a little weight since his abduction, but it wasn't until this moment that he really felt sure that he shared a fate with all those men.





Yeah, Jenny, that's pretty much my reaction to that pop-up too. TWINS. OOPS-BABY, NATURAL ALIEN TWINS. Like this house wasn't slated to be full enough already. Sigh.





But Liam, Jenny, and I all eventually succumbed to the cuteness that is the adorable black-eyed little alien baby. Or babies, as the case may be.




They had one of each - a boy and a girl - and they got the astrological names of Perseus and Lynx. Jenny had to admit that even though her husband had beat her to the punch of having babies, the two newcomers were adorable little bundles of neon green joy.





Since she didn't have any maternity leave to take advantage of, Jenny went back to work on her regular schedule and continued to work her way up the journalism food chain. She actually loved going to her job...it was what she truly wanted to do with her life, and she knew she could reach the top.




A few weeks later, it was time for another important event: the birthday of little Lucia. All of the adults had to admit that, although it was hard for them all to watch the first baby of the household growing up, it would certainly be a relief not to have three toddlers in the house at the same time...





Lucia grew into a pretty, if somewhat stern-looking, young lady. She definitely grew to favor her mother in looks every day.






Speaking of her mother, Frances was delighted when she finally started showing a bit of baby belly. She wanted at least three children, and Conor wanted at least six. She was fine with doubling her number, and she knew that he had come from such a large family that six seemed small.




Unfortunately, this pregnancy seemed a bit harder on her than usual. She cramped frequently, and everything she ate seemed to upset her stomach. One night at dinner, she started to feel particularly badly.





The pain in her stomach was so bad that it made her feel nauseous, and she stood in the dining room sweating, trying to control her gag reflex so she could get some more nourishing comfort soup into her body. She was sure if she could eat just one bowl of the healthy stuff, it would make her feel infinitely better.




Tragically, she lost her baby later that night in a miscarriage. It was completely unexpected, totally shocking, and utterly devastating. She had never felt so desolate and heartbroken as she did in that moment.




Over the next few weeks, Frances spent most of her time in bed, crying herself into exhaustion and then finally sleeping. Even her sleep was restless, however. She frequently woke in a cold sweat, jolting up in bed from a nightmare that some terrible accident had happened to Lucia...that she had lost another child. Frances had never known depression so deep.





Her sole comfort was Conor. He was the best husband any woman could have, she came to understand in that low time in her life. He was eternally tender and would just lie with her in bed, holding her and letting her cry if she needed to, or kissing her and telling her that she was beautiful and that they wouldn't let this stop them. There would be more beautiful babies in the future for Conor and Frances Vinci, he assured her.






The whole household was sensitive and sympathetic to Frances. They all knew how much family meant to her. So it was that when it came time for Liam's twin babies to grow into toddlers, Jenny allowed Frances to have the honor of holding Lynx.





With his squinty little eyes and his pouty little mouth, not to mention the definitive sharp Vinci cheekbones and black hair, Perseus made for one adorable toddler.





Not to be outdone, Lynx too was a little beauty, loudly touting her twin-ness with her brother with the same slanting eyes, defined cheekbones, and pouty lips. They were utterly adorable, and Liam and Conor had to admit that it was kinda sorta totally AWESOME that Liam had had twins. They both hoped that Perseus and Lynx would be as close as their daddy and his twin were.





They were good kids, too. As they grew, their personalities became more clear. They were very different in some ways, but they shared a lot of positive traits. Both were very kind and friendly, even if they differed elsewhere.





Scenes like this became typical in the Vinci house. Whichever adults were home were in charge of helping train the toddlers. They were both bright, but Liam and Conor gained new respect for their parents trying to teach two sets of skills simultaneously.





Liam was totally delighted with his alien children. Sure, he hadn't expected or planned for them, but they quickly became the apple of his eye. Even Jenny, who wanted a baby of her own someday, fell deeply in love with the little ones. Liam made so many grilled cheese sandwiches for his new picky little eaters that he sometimes felt like a grilled cheese. Mmm, grilled cheese...it was kind of like the perfect food....





Frances, meanwhile, was suffering a bit of a private matter. She couldn't stop throwing up. At first, she thought it might have been her body still revolting from the harsh trauma it had been through. But as the illness continued in a distinct morning pattern, she began to have her suspicions, which she kept very closely to herself. She and Conor had only slept together a few tender times while she was recovering from her miscarriage. Could her body really have accepted a new baby that fast? And what would happen with this baby? Would she lose this one too? Her heart and head were in turmoil, and so she kept her mouth shut until she knew for a fact what was going on...and until she knew how to voice her worries to Conor.





She continued on as normal, helping Lucia with her homework and still remaining closed-lipped about her situation. No one seemed to notice a thing...probably because if Frances had a bad day from time to time, the other adults in the house could certainly understand why.





She even went back to work, quickly bringing home a promotion and even some friends. [That's our lovely Aurélie Beaumont there!]





It wasn't until she grew a little baby belly that she finally had the nerve to tell everyone that she was certain she was pregnant again. Immediately, everyone swept her off her feet and catered to her like she was a queen. Nothing bad would happen to their family, and they would make sure of it. Somehow, this special treatment made Frances feel safer and more calm than she had since the miscarriage. She began to relax and even tentatively become excited about the new baby.





Even Conor's Mom, Caitlin, stopped by to help out around the house when everyone else was at work. Caitlin loved both of her daughter-in-laws and her grandchildren madly, so it was no sacrifice for her to spend a day in a house full of children and a pregnant lady. In fact, she found it was kind of nice not to BE the pregnant lady in a crazy house full of people for a change! Her presence soothed Frances even more so that the worry about the miscarriage faded almost completely from memory, and Frances began to enjoy being pregnant again for the first time.






The final upswing in events at the Vinci compound was Jenny finally being promoted to media magnate. She'd achieved her lifetime goal, and now she knew she really wanted to settle down and start her family with Liam. She wanted a baby, at least one, that was hers and Liam's together.




Of course...if she could become an amazing and celebrated small business owner at the same time, that would be sweeeeeeeet.


[[Author's Notes: This house just talks to me. I kind of love it. More than any other house in the neighborhood, this family always presents a story for me to tell that goes beyond the typical "sims doing the same thing in different environments" thing that sometimes goes on in other households. I was SO sad when Frances lost the baby; that and Liam's twins were a total surprise. Solely because of this house, I have now installed the more than 8 sims per lot hack because I want Jenny to be able to have a natural baby with Liam while Frances and Conor also pursue their goal of having six children. I really, really love this family. :) It's hectic, but it's also fantastic! A few bloopers for you...

Bloopers:
A message for Liam. When I saw it, I thought, "Well, it's funny you should say that..." // Parent-child calisthenics? Nope, just an overexcited giant wave hello from mother to son. <3 // Why is it that I'm not surprised that Aline Beaumont, with her zero nice points, is apparently taking over as the new neighborhood paper thief? ]]