The Vincis (B) - Round 13

Starring:

Fiona Vinci, Elder Family Sim, LTW Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens

Enzo Vinci, Elder Fortune Sim, 2nd LTW Become World Class Ballet Dancer



~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Vinci house, the twins were teenagers, but only one was the rebellious sort. Leah snuck out with friends while Grace covered for her. At the end of the round, they both racked up some serious scholarships and headed out to Sim State. The animal control people found runaway Sage, and in the meantime, Enzo and Fiona had adopted a new kitten - Cheddar - who grew into an adult. Kittens Shallot and Rhubarb grew into adult cats and were thus given away for adoption along with Sage, making room for the three kittens Fiona needed to raise in order to achieve her LTW. Marmalade and Cheddar are now slated to bring about the newest generation of kittens in the Vinci household. Let's check in with them.

Enzo and Fiona missed their girls. They couldn't deny it. Most days, they could only think about having them back in the house. Perhaps it was getting older that spurred the emotional connection into overdrive, but regardless, neither of them could wait until the girls graduated and came back to Rosebud.




Since the two of them had no human babies to coddle, they took to coddling the kitties instead, encouraging Cheddar and Marmalade to have another bath of kittens. It would bring a youthful playfulness into the house, Fiona thought.





Both Enzo and Fiona found that raising kittens was not quite as good as raising children, but it was a relatively decent substitute and distraction from the knowledge that their baby girls were off at university becoming adults.




Enzo was the only one in the job with a house, and he managed to reach the top of the political career track only to decide that at this point in his life, he deserved a healthy retirement.




It was a good thing, too - there were soon going to be three new kittens in the house who needed looking after.





That day, three new kittens were born and dubbed Walnut, Peanut, and Almond. When these three kittens grew up, it would mean the completion of Fiona's lifetime goal.



That didn't stop her from loving kittens, though. Cheddar and Marmalade headed off at her encouragement to start making a brand new batch.




Bad luck struck the Vinci house later that season. A burglar decided that their home was just too tasty a tidbit to resist breaking into. What he didn't know was that they'd had an alarm system installed since the first day of moving in.




Fiona heard the racket and rushed downstairs to see the police officer spar with the crook. It was terrifying, but she wanted to offer some sort of moral support to the cop who was risking her life to protect them.




To Fiona's delight, the police officer won. She cuffed the criminal and hauled him out to her waiting police car.




Once the criminal was safely locked in the back seat of the cruiser, Fiona realized how scared she'd been. She definitely needed something to take the edge off.




Enzo, on the other hand, slept through everything. He wasn't much help.




However, once he was awake and Fiona told him about the incident the next day, he promptly went about comforting her the best way he knew how.



[[Author's Notes: These guys are like most elder households: pretty uninteresting. I have to admit, though, I can't wait to get back to the house and FINALLY see Fiona reach her LTW. It will be the first time I've achieved the Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens LTW in this game, woohoo! Not sure why I chose to have Fiona encourage the adult cats to have MORE kittens. Must have been drunk. :p Anyway, no bloopers, just moving on to the next household: Paolo and Caitlin and the youngest of their 11-child brood!]]

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The Beaumonts (B) - Round 13

Starring:

Steffi Beaumont, Elder Family Sim, 2nd LTW WooHoo With 20 Different Sims (lol)

Arnaud Beaumont, Elder Romance Sim, 2nd LTW Become Professional Party Guest

Bijou Beaumont, Teen Knowledge Sim, LTW Become Media Magnate



~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Beaumont house, Steffi reached her LTW of having a golden anniversary, promptly rolling a ridiculous and unattainable 2nd LTW. She continued to garden profusely, while her husband Arnaud contined to pretty much be a doddering old man, writing novels and restaurant guides to bring in money to the family. Bijou proved herself to be a strange cross between popularity sim and knowledge sim. She maxed out all of her skills, but she also brought home a different friend every day from school (all of the Silvervale teens, amusingly) and was not shy about admiring herself in the mirror. It's almost time for her to head off to college. Let's check in.

Bijou was bored. Yeah, she loved her parents, but she swore she'd go crazy if she did the same thing day after day the way they did. Her mother was always out in the greenhouse - newly rebuilt to accommodate her fruit trees - and her father was always typing away at his computer.




They'd both achieved all their lifetime dreams, and Bijou supposed that meant there wasn't much else for them to do but settle into their old age. With Bastian gone, she was the only young person left in the household, and it made her itchy to leave for university.





She wasn't an ingrate...I mean, she appreciated all the fresh produce that came from her mother's hard labors in the garden.



And, she reminded herself, she wouldn't have any kind of spending money to go out with her friends if her father didn't spend most of his days typing up his novels and restaurant guides.





She felt guilty for wanting to get out of the house, but some nights, her only comfort was gossiping with her girlfriends on the phone about what college life would be like. She couldn't wait one more minute.




She tallied up the scholarships she'd applied for and promised her parents she would be good at Sim State. They weren't worried about her grades at all - they knew she was as brilliant as her big brother. It was just that social side that they knew would go wild in college.... But Bijou reassured them that Bastian would be there to keep an eye on her.




She headed off right away to join the newest freshman class at Sim State.




Though she would miss her parents, she wouldn't worry about them finding ways to entertain themselves at home.




She could imagine exactly how they would spend their time while she was away. Her mother would putter in her garden, and her father would keep typing his novels.




She had to smile at how boring and predictable they were. She bet their lives wouldn't change a bit while she was off at school.


[[Author's Notes: This round was pretty uneventful, but I found it amusing that Steffi and Arnaud immediately began autonomously woohooing ALL THE TIME once Bijou left for school. They had a want for the hot tub, so I installed it in the back yard, figuring it was a nice golden anniversary present. That thing will get a lot of action, let me tell you. Not much else to add...but I've got two bloopers for you.

Bloopers:
I really think that's an unwise decision, at this juncture Brad. // I told you so. (He has totally become the neighborhood newspaper thief! Jerk! <3>]]

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The Tanakas (C) - Round 13

Starring:

Kimi Tanaka, Elder Romance Sim, 2nd LTW Become Celebrity Chef

Takeru Tanaka, Adult Fortune Sim, LTW Become The Law

Amanda Tanaka, Adult Family Sim, LTW Become Education Minister


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Tanaka house, Take was settling back into the house with his retired mum, Kimi, and he brought along his girlfriend from University, Amanda Royce. She wouldn't be Amanda Royce for long, though. They quickly planned a wedding and tied the knot since Take wanted to make sure Kimi was around to see it. At the end of the round, it turned out their celebratory post-wedding woohoo was a little more than just a pleasure cruise: Amanda was pregnant. Take made it to the top of two careers that weren't his LTWs, and all three of the house members became very close. Will Kimi live to see her grandchild? Will Take finally reach it to the top of the Law career? We'll see.

It seemed appropriate to start off the season watching Amanda grill up a delicious melty, cheesy sandwich for herself. Of course, she made one for Kimi too, knowing the older woman's deep-seated love for grilled cheese. It was one thing they could definitely agree upon while Amanda was harboring such hard core cheese cravings.





Kimi pretty much continued to be the raddest, most active elder ever, proving that she could still totally shred on her guitar the way she could in her early twenties.





Take brought home a happy surprise for her one night as well: he'd finally snagged a job in the law field and made quick work of that career. It barely took him a week to reach the top of his field, and then he got bored. Time to move on to something else. He'd already had three jobs in almost as many months, and he kicked ass at them all.




He thought he might try something radically different this time, though. Perhaps something to do with water. Sure, he didn't know how to swim, but he could figure it out quickly enough.





Kimi was a social creature and frequently could be found in front of the phone or with the receiver pressed to her ear. Sadly but appropriately, it was here that she met her end.





Having not met even her first-born grandchild, Kimi was NOT happy about shuffling off the mortal coil.




Death tactfully pointed out that she HAD gotten to see her only son graduate college with flying colors, get married, and achieve his lifetime want. Kimi had to agree, and she perked up a bit when death handed her a mai tai. She bade her family goodbye and faded into the night, suitcase in hand.




Amanda and Takeru were both devastated, but Takeru in particular was inconsolable. He'd always been a mama's boy, through and through, and he didn't know how he could ever go on without Kimi in his life.






Even his mother's generous inheritance to him wasn't enough to soothe the pain. He'd rather have had Kimi than her money any day.







For days, all he did was wander around listlessly, bursting into tears at the drop of the hat and wishing he could bring her back.





It seemed like nothing could pull Take out of the deep depression he was suffering at the death of his mother. Or almost nothing...





When Take heard Amanda screaming all the way from upstairs and over the sounds of his sobs, he went running only to find his beautiful bride in labor. He sniffled about how sad it was Kimi would never get to see their child, but Amanda just screamed at him to shut up his sniveling and get a hot towel.




It turned out Amanda had good reason to scream. It wasn't just one little one she was trying to pop out...it was two.




Takeru could hardly believe what he was seeing, but somehow, watching his first child, a girl, be born made everything seem a little better. Circle of life and all that. He didn't have much time to ruminate, though, for another baby was coming swiftly after.

Baby #1: A girl, Sayuri Tanaka, with a skintone slightly lighter than Takeru's, both parents' black hair, and her mother's gray eyes.

Baby #2: A boy, Ichiro Tanaka, with a skintone between Take and Amanda's, both parents' black hair, and his daddy's eye color.

It quickly became apparent that the house needed some major renovation if it was going to be fit for a whole family. A second floor room was added on the other end of the house from the master bedroom, and a different roof got put on. They also bought a sensible sedan.






Takeru found that he absolutely loved being a daddy. He had learned a lot from his mom, and one of those things was how to be a good parent. Even though she was single and had never married his dad, she'd always taken care of him and made him feel loved. Take was determined to do the same for his children.





He was a good provider, too; there was no question about that. The family already had almost more money than they knew what to do with, thanks to Take's swift passage through many careers and to the inheritance left by Kimi. But at least the kids would have a safe, hefty college fund.






Babies never stay babies for too long, and it was soon time for the twins to grow into toddlers.




Sayuri grew into a hideously unnatural shade of hair which was quickly rectified. Such a pretty face, though!




It went well with her pretty personality.





Little Ichiro clearly favored his father, while Sayuri seemed to be a nice blend of the two.



One thing Take and Amanda could agree on: they sure did make purty babies.


[[Author's Notes: Okay, I am SOOO SAD to lose Kimi!!! *sniffle sniffle* She was a CAS teen, and she's the first of the original Tanaka siblings to go! She was one of my favorites, hands-down, and one of the prettiest sims I think I've ever created. Mariko is gorgeous too, and I know I'm going to die a little inside when she goes too. But I keep telling myself, like Take does, that this is the simmy circle of life, and I have to LET GO. After all, I can always extract her and play her later. >.> Don't tell Take. Amanda's twins were completely natural and completely a surprise. She ate no cheesecake, and I didn't realize until I looked at her lifetime aspiration rewards panel after the twins' birth that she has the family sim multiple birth boost or whatever you call it. No worries, though, I am more than happy to have the two kids grow up together. They really are gorgeous kids. Their headshots: Sayuri and Ichiro. :') Can't wait to see them grow up next round! No bloopers for you. This round was all SRS BZNS. ]]

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