I GIVE UP!

Not on Sims blogging, but on this particular legacy. I've moved in with my boyfriend (yay) so I'm using his PC now, and I don't know how corrupt this neighbourhood was after various stuff on the old PC. Plus I've decided that I keep complicating things far too much when it comes to Prosperities. Eg, there were a lot of playable townies hanging around, and as much as I'd like to be as dedicated and generally awesome at Sims stories as Lakeside Heights or Pine Hollow I don't think it's going to happen. But I have a new blog, over at Wordpress, which is appropriately called More Gorram Sims. I've started blogging my first ever I'm Surrounded By Idiots challenge and will have a new Prosperity soon, where I'll attempt to stick to the rules! The links and CC resources aren't up yet but they soon will be :)

Round Eleven - King 2 - Enjoying the Empty Nest

Note: Sorry that updates are so sporadic. My PC has given up after seven years of loyal service making playing extremely difficult. I hate to abandon a story for the SECOND TIME (eek!) but I'm going to be moving all my Sims stuff to my boyfriend's PC and will probably start over, especially seeing as I've discovered many more resources...

Alima and Duncan's son Gabriel has left for university and they've decided to stop renting and buy their own home. As long as they've got each other there's no time for any of that empty-nest business!

  

Duncan had heard about what was going on between his niece Lilliana and the local lothario Tom Darwin from his step-daughter Athena (Liliana's sister-in-law, confusingly enough) so it was more than awkward when Tom started stopping by. Duncan tried to reason with him, having been a bit of a player in his teens but Tom wasn't hearing any of it.

"Liliana's a grown woman, she can make her own decisions and if she wants to date me that's none of your business."

Duncan cringed. "Just be careful, okay? I don't want you knocking her up, she's got a brilliant future ahead of her." 

Round Eleven - Bachman/Darwin - Opening the Relationship

 

Liliana King has graduated and moved to an apartment back in town. Theoretically they could have their little trysts there, but Tom can't be bothered to keep things secret anymore. After all, he and Allyn aren't exclusive anymore. Not that they ever officially were, it just... happened.

Round Eleven - King - In Which Tension Rises

Adrian can't believe the cheek of his children. Living in the home he built and paid for, sponging off him, and what's more they seem completely oblivious to the outside world. When do they ever work? The fact that they've both already gotten further in their careers and are earning more than he probably ever will escapes his mind.

Round Eleven - Darwin - Healing?

Miranda's life has gotten more complicated since leaving her parents' home. A whole lot more complicated. Somehow, still, it's rewarding. Now baby Lee's arrived on the scene along with her little step-brother Milo she barely finds time to read up on the latest marine biology research to keep up with work, but Sam steps up to the plate every time. He's a natural father and completely dotes on his son.

Round Eleven - Bhalli - Everyday Life

Jace and Solveig Bhalli have just welcomed their third child and only son, George, into the world. Little Caroline is still the perfect child, but teenage Vikki is going off the rails, and fast...

Jace didn't love his girls any less now he had a son, but he couldn't argue against there being a special bond between him and George. He'd never been a very macho guy but he liked the idea of being able to toss a football around with his son as well as with his eldest daughter.

Round Ten - University - Repercussions

Things are only just getting back to normal after Liliana and Ashlee's disastrous fling, and now Liliana's cousin Gabriel, who's had a bit of a crush on Ashlee for a while, has joined them and Maya at S.S.U. Will they all keep it together long enough to graduate?

Liliana had barely talked to him at the party, only tangentially knowing Allyn in the first place, so she's surprised when Tom Darwin calls her out of the blue. Liliana may be heartbroken but that doesn't mean she's been lying around crying and getting stuck out of the loop. She knows her gossip, knows that Tom and Allyn, while still most certainly a couple, are seeing other people.

"We should go on a date sometime," he says with a debonair sort-of-a-laugh.

"How about tomorrow? Coffee on campus? I mean, if you've got time and it's not too much of a journey. I'd meet you back in Serenity but, yanno, can't afford a car what with dorm payments and all..." She keeps her voice casual even though she knows she's rambling a bit, plus she's gripping the receiver hard enough to hurt.

If he cares about her hidden nervousness he doesn't show it. "Sure. 5pm good for you?"

"Awesome. See you then." Click.

Round Ten - Darwin 2 - Getting By

Adele Darwin is trying to find ways to occupy her time outside work while her daughter Maya is at university. Her life has never been easy, so can she find solace in her twilight years?

Even though Adele now worked in Sim City while Colby was still in provincial politics, they kept in touch and he often came over, but they weren't a serious "item". Adele didn't want anything serious from him, and if he wanted anything more he kept it quiet. It was a good arrangement.

Round Ten - King 2 - Keeping Up With the Kids

Alima and Duncan are elders but they're as passionate as ever, and their son Gabriel is readying himself for a life of painting fruit and living on ramen noodles as he prepares for University.

"Oh, hi Jace."

"Hi mom! I didn't wake you, did I?"

"You've never had a bad reason for calling me," said Alima into the reciever. "Or no reason, either. So how's Solveig doing? Did she enjoy the third pregnancy or did she want to punch you into space? And how's my grandson?"

Jace laughed. "She's fine, and so's George."

Names

As you may have noticed, apart from the heirs to the three original homes of the founding families I'm not going to be putting any particular effort into keeping the Bhalli, Darwin and King names the main ones in the 'hood. There's several reasons for this. First, and least importantly, it's more realistic. Second, it makes it easier for me to identify particular family lines, eg Darwin vs Pasang. Third, it means when the game doesn't recognise sims to be related and I'm not too squicked out to let them get together (or they refuse point-blank to let me not get them together) I don't get the issue of sims who are in love and only tangentially related having the same surname and thus freaking me out!

Round Ten - Bachman/Darwin - Money, Money, Money!

Tom Darwin, Allyn Bachman and their son Drake are getting ready to move into a new home after Tom's unexpected financial windfall. Will this change their relationship dynamic, especially as Drake doesn't act like his parents at all?

Allyn doesn't know to connect with Drake now he doesn't rely on her for every last thing. She and Tom have never exactly been academics, yet they've somehow spawned a little bookworm. Allyn barely understands what he's talking about over dinner, as he delves deep into world politics (a bit too deep for an elementary school kid). Where does he get all these ideas from?!

Round Ten - King - Teenage Angst

The King household is as crowded as ever, and now Nathaniel and Petal's eldest child Athena has reached her teenage years it isn't going to get any easier!

(Athena's POV)

I know all teenagers think their family is weird, but mine is super-weird. I mean, I've only just started high school, my life is difficult enough without my GRANDMA playing soccer in the back yard. I can just about handle it from mom, she's not wrinkly yet, but grandma?

Round Ten - Darwin - Aftermath

Harvey Darwin is trying to deal with being an elderly single father after the death of his girlfriend Esther Pasang. Thankfully he has his son and future daughter-in-law to help him look after Milo, but will he ever recover?

 

Miranda tried to reach out to Harvey, but it was difficult. He rebuffed all her kind words and she felt a little resentment. She was basically acting as Milo's mother after Esther's death, why couldn't he appreciate that?

Round Ten - Bhalli - Prankster

Jace and Solveig are trying for a new baby to complete their family. Their two daughters Vikki and Caroline are of school-age, but they're not the best friends sisters could be...

Solveig and Jace both worked jobs that occasionally demanded odd hours, and that sometimes meant that the girls were left to their own devices on Saturday mornings. Caroline knew she should have been doing the homework she was given on Friday, but Vikki had other ideas and dragged her to play video games. But Caroline wasn't the easy opponent she'd hoped for.

"Ugh! There's no way you can be beating me so often without cheating. I'm amazing at this and you're just a stupid kid. Go and play with your dolls or something!"

Quick Note: Haunted Houses

I've decided that I want ghosts around, even though they are extremely annoying... hey, if I'm going to have vampires, witches and maybe even zombies eventually, ghosts are nothing. Most graves, including almost everyone descended from the founding families, will get moved to the cemetery but in the case of deaths like Esther's I'm going to hide the urns somewhere in the house where they can't be interfered with. I will try and keep the number of "haunted houses" low - one per sub-neighbourhood (I forget the game term for that), and the ghosts won't become apparent unless they actually haunt someone to death or something.

Usually they'll happen via gameplay, but I have made one on purpose - I set fire to the Jacquards in Bluewater and hid their urns in the foundations of their fire-damaged house, thus bringing a whole curse-malarky in. It may become a plot-point if anyone ever moves in there, but then again, they may not... The supernatural abounds, apparently.

Round Nine - University - Part 2: This Conversation Is Over

Maya's best friends Liliana and Ashlee have hooked up at university - will they be "lesbian until graduation" or will it not even last that long?

To say Maya finds her current living situation a bit awkward is an understatement. She'd been entirely prepared for the situation of Ashlee and Liliana both getting boyfriends at university and her being the fifth wheel but she hadn't expected this. It's especially awkward when Liliana gets soppy and talks about what they're going to do when they graduate. Maya knows Ashlee better than her, even if she isn't in a relationship with her, and she knows Ashlee's not ready for commitment.

Round Nine - University - Part 1: You Don't Have To Follow

Maya Darwin and her friends Liliana King and Ashlee Rodiek have headed off to S.S.U. in search of fun. Will university life live up to their expectations?


(This round ended up being so long and drama-filled that I've had to split it into two parts!)

Round Nine - Darwin 2 - Left Alone

...oh god. This is tragic. Blogger ate this ENTIRE POST and the pictures along with it - I've got extremely limited space on the Sim-playing-PC so in my idiocy I decided to delete already uploaded photos and the ones for this entry all went missing. So, in summary:

• Gabriel kept hitting on Maya's friends
• Sam came round to visit a lot, while Tom never bothered to call
• Adele reached elderhood but didn't retire, as Maya went off to university and she needed something to occupy her time
• Adele has taken to stargazing wearing her night-dress.

Round Nine - King 2 - When Everything & Nothing Changes

Alima and Duncan King are approaching elderhood while their son Gabriel is getting into the swing of things as a teen.

"Oooh! That's the spot!" Alima's years were beginning to catch up with her, but Duncan was always there and willing to smooth out the aches and pains in her back.

Round Nine - Bachman/Darwin - Lucky Break

Tom Darwin and Allyn Bachman didn't mean to become parents, but it just kind of... happened and now they've got a bouncing baby boy, Drake. Can two life-long slackers cope with raising a child, and how will they cope with everything that's been going on with Tom's dad?

Tom still couldn't believe he was actually a father - or that his son was younger than his half-brother. Weird stuff. But Drake was a cute enough kid and Tom kind of liked carrying him around on his hip sometimes.

Round Nine - King - Anger Management

Things have been going well for the Kings, despite their crowded living situation. Unfortunately, patriarch Adrian appears to have finally gone off the deep end.

Athena King is no great scholar, but with her family's encouragement she's got her first ever A+ on her report card. She crows about it for days!

Round Nine - Darwin - Everything You Ever

Sam Darwin and his fiancée Miranda King have returned to the Darwin family home, where Sam's father Harvey and his girlfriend Esther Pasang are awaiting their own first child.

Even though the atmosphere in the Darwin household was distinctly awkward, Miranda was doing her best to fit in. Sam helped, of course. For example, one morning Harvey completely blanked Miranda in his search for breakfast after pulling an all-nighter painting. Miranda felt like she was going to cry, but Sam came to her rescue.

"Hey, did you know that Winston Churchill's pet parrot lived for 104 years?"

"No, I didn't." She smiled. Sure, their distractions were kind of banal, but they kept them grounded.

Round Nine - Bhalli - Entirely Stable

The Bhallis are a family of four now - Jace and Solveig and their daughters Victoria and Caroline.

Victoria "Vikki" Bhalli is many things but an intellectual isn't one of them. Getting her to do her homework is an uphill struggle, she whines when you ask her to do it and might not even finish it. Her parents don't understand. She's far from stupid, so why does she have such a problem with homework? They've sat with her and taught her to study but it doesn't seem to have helped.

Selling Novels

I still don't have any suitable novelist Sims, but when I do... is there any way they can "sell" their novels to other local sims, or at least a way for me to put their books on the other playables' shelves?

Round Eight - University - Just You & Me

Lee Darwin and Miranda King have taken a convoluted path to happiness but they're finally together, and engaged! Things will be fine if Miranda's little sister manages to stay away...

Miranda's POV:
Things are going better than great with me and Sam. We don't need to be all up in each others' business anymore (I'll admit I got a bit clingy early on, I'm insecure sometimes). Now we're both happy just sitting and studying. It's like study-dates back in high school but without any parental hovering... not that Sam's parents ever bothered anyway.

Round Eight - Darwin 2 - Single Ladies

Adele and Maya Darwin are getting used to life without the males in their family; as driven as they both are, can they ever relax enough to find even friendly companionship?


Adele still talked to Colby, but only as friends and colleagues. The elections were coming up so the increased work-load and need for communication meant that Adele was the one hogging the phone-line rather than her teenage daughter. Maya did have friends but she needed to concentrate on scholarships... plus the whole thing with Liliana was a bit weird. She and Maya were BFFs and Maya could do without hearing ANYTHING about her brother's love life.

Round Eight - King 2 - Happy Home

Duncan and Alima King have been through a lot to get where they are today - blissfully married with a son on the cusp of teen-hood, along with Alima's two adult children and four grandchildren. It seems like nothing can get in the way of their happiness!


Alima may have been a grandmother, but it didn't stop her and Duncan from enjoying themselves! After all, they weren't old and grey yet... and they had no intention of stopping when they were, either.

Round Eight - Bachman/Darwin - Responsible Adults

Allyn and Drake have been living together ever since they both dropped out of S.S.U., but now Allyn is pregnant will the easy balance of their life survive?

Round Eight - King - Getting Older

The bustling King family are nearly spilling out of the seams of their family home, and the chaos has left everyone oblivious to what Liliana has been up to!

Round Eight - Darwin - Love & Loss

After Sam Darwin's departure to university, Harvey Darwin and his pregnant mistress Esther are all alone in the house. How will they deal with all the drama and still run Darwin Arts?

Round Eight - Bhalli - Another Addition

Solveig hadn't meant to get pregnant again, but sometimes life throws you curve-balls. At least Jace was happy about it - more than happy, he was over the moon. Solveig tried not to worry. It wasn't as if the hospital was going anywhere, and she had a long life ahead of her.

Round Seven - University - How Long Can This Go On?

Sam Darwin has gone to university, and Miranda King has graduated high school early in order to be with him. They've got something going on, that's for sure, but can two such shy and awkward people actually manage to really, truly get together?

Hacks

Does anyone got any links to good hacks for less typical businesses compared to art, restaurants, flower shops etc - eg, a couples counseling office? Also, I'm getting annoyed with how easy it is for my sims to get insanely rich even though their children go to private schools and they've been through university so should technically have tuition debts hanging over them. Are there any hacks to automate this or should I keep manually send the headmasters and university professors money with the postal order thingamajig (oh, how I love that and the no-20k-startup, too many super-rich sims are no fun!).

Final question - my sims can no longer write novels. Well, they can, they just don't get a choice of name/theme/etc and are finished in 20 seconds. I thought I had a hack that fixed that but if I do it's not working! Any ideas?

Round Seven - Darwin 2 - Career Ladder

Adele and Maya Darwin have moved out of the family home after Adele's husband Harvey's affair came to light. Adele can't wait for the divorce to be finalised and is having difficulty getting along with her neighbours, while Maya has to deal with her new life and the fact that she'll have a half-sibling soon...

"

Round Seven - King 2 - A Place Of Our Own

Duncan and Alima King and their son Gabriel have finally moved out of Alima's old home and into a rented duplex next door to newly divorced Adele Darwin and her daughter Maya. Their life is pretty idyllic, but can Alima's cheerful personality break down the wall around Adele?

Round Seven - Bachman/Darwin - Oops

Allyn Bachman and Tom Darwin have been cohabiting for several years now but their easy relationship is under threat from within; their combined daddy-issues are pushing Allyn ever further forward while Tom backs away from the notion of commitment. Will they get through? Allyn has some ideas of her own about what they need...

Round Seven - King - Girl Genius

The King family seem pretty normal, if expanding too rapidly for their tiny house. Liliana's hitting those difficult teen years, though, and Miranda's grief at her sort-of-boyfriend heading off to university might lead her to do something drastic...

Note: Apologies if the formatting is wonky again. I lost two pictures of teen Liliana, including one of her being adorable and looking after baby Athena autonomously, and they're not on my computer anymore! Fail. Eventually I had to admit defeat out of fear of losing the whole post.

Petal was so happy with her little bundle of joy she felt like she might burst. Sure, there wasn't much room for a baby what with her teenage sister-in-laws being around, but she and Nathaniel were considering trying for another one anyway. Babies were small, right? Surely they couldn't take up too much room...

Round Seven - Darwin - Unwelcome

Adele Darwin has moved out of the family home she once shared with her husband Harvey, and taken their daughter Maya with her while leaving their son Sam behind. Reluctant home-wrecker Esther has taken her place... will Sam survive the dysfunction? More to the point, will Harvey?

Round Seven - Bhalli - 1 + 1 = 3

Newly-weds Solveig and Jace are alone in the Bhalli household after Jace's mother, stepfather and half-brother moved out, but are expecting their first child. Jace is ecstatic and looking forward to having a big family all of his own, but career-focused Solveig is a little more apprehensive... Jace isn't the one who's got to carry the babies and take maternity leave!

Quick Note: A slight change in style...

Until now I've been writing all the posts in the past tense, but I think I want to try a few new things - some in present tense, some in first person, all of that. At the moment I'm falling into the trap of making updates feel like quick recaps on what's going on, and I'd like to try writing it more like a story even though almost all of what goes on is gameplay and based on wants and personality etc rather than me setting things up on purpose. Which reminds me, I really do need to tweak ACR so it's all vaguely in-character 0_0

Round Six - Bachman/Darwin - Tied Down?

Allyn Bachman and Tom Darwin are cohabiting but have a free and easy relationship with no official commitment. This has been suiting them just fine, but can it carry on forever?

Round Six - King - Crowded House

The King family house is full to bursting now Nathaniel's new wife Petal is expecting a new addition. Will they all cope, or will the constant invasion of personal space finally drive everyone insane?

Round Six - Darwin - Eerie Silence

Adele Darwin caught her husband Harvey in bed with his employee Esther Pasang and is struggling to cope. Their son Sam is getting closer to graduation and their daughter Maya will become a teenager soon - does Adele have the strength to put this incident behind her? And more importantly, does Harvey have the willpower to stop messing around with poor love-struck Esther?

Round Six - Bhalli - Playing Happy Families

Jace Bhalli and Solveig Tellerman are engaged and settling into life with Jace's mother, step-dad and new baby brother Gabriel. Will things continue to be plain sailing?

Round Five - Bachman/Darwin - Stress-Free Living

Tom Darwin has joined his college-drop-out girlfriend Allyn Bachan after getting unceremoniously kicked out of university himself. Will he stop his philandering ways, and will either of them get it together enough to pay the rent?

Round Five - King - We Are Young

Petal Bhalli has graduated university and left her family home in order to live with her fiancé Nathaniel King. Unfortunately, this is a package deal including him, his parents and his two little sisters... still, they're not going to let it get in their way.

This may sound like a stupid question, but...

...how do you do the "read more" thing so that only the first photo of a post is visible, thus meaning there aren't "spoilers" and the main page of the blog takes a shorter time to load? I'm only used to Livejournal cuts, and not so used to Blogger...

Round Five - Darwin - Backstabber

Harvey Darwin's home art business is thriving, but with that comes the temptation of a beautiful, young and naive employee. Adele is oblivious, preferring her career, and their youngest children Sam and Maya are doing their own thing. How long can they continue before their fake happy family implodes?


The stresses of increasing age and three pregnancies lead to Adele switching careers and starting again from the very bottom, but she wasn't too worried. Yes, being an athlete had suited her well, but the idea of breaking the glass ceiling in politics intrigued her too... even if her dreams did wobble a bit when she saw the wreck she had to car-pool in.


Little Maya was growing up fast and was delighted with her newest toy - a stove of her very own! She was fascinated by the process of cake-making as much as the end result, which was a good thing as at the moment she mostly only managed to burn them. She ate them anyway, though.


She was a friendly little girl - not extremely outgoing, but sweet and playful enough to overcome her shyness easily. She made friends with Liliana King at school.

"I can so do algebra," said Liliana boastfully. "I am AWESOME at algebra. Listen!" She started off on a nonsensical stream of Xs and Ys but Maya nodded her on indulgently. Liliana was a bit over-the-top but she was a lot of fun to be around the rest of the time!


The "affair" with Esther hadn't gone past a little flirtation but it was still obvious to anyone who cared to notice, the way they looked at each other, the way he always touched her arm when complimenting her.

"Esther, you're a natural saleswoman! Of course, who could resist buying from someone so pretty... I'm giving you a raise, effective immediately."

"Oh wow! Thanks Harvey!"

The other employee rolled his eyes. Had Harvey Darwin never heard the term "abuse of power"?!


Harvey couldn't bear it anymore. The moment he shut up shop he walked over to Esther and tried to caress her face - a risk, he knew, since all they'd had was touches that could be construed as friendly... and she rebuffed him, a look of horror on her face.

"I'm sorry, but... look. I've had time to think about all of this. You're so handsome and charming and all the rest, but you're married! I'm not that sort of girl."

"What sort of girl's that?" asked Harvey with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not a home-wrecker. I want love, sure, but not like this. I want someone I can raise a family with. It's got to end between us, right now, before anyone gets hurt."

Harvey walked off without a word.

But her resolve not to be "that kind of girl" couldn't stand up to the pressure - Harvey wore her down and wore her down, and eventually she caved under the pressure. She even though she might be in love... which allowed him to take the next step.


Adele returned home early after finally getting a promotion, in higher spirits than she had been for a long time. Harvey was nowhere to be found, so she headed to the bedroom... and found him instantly, in bed with pretty young Esther.


"HOW COULD YOU?" Adele had never been a violent person but she struck out in a cloud of rage and smacked Harvey across the face, then stormed off.


They tried to keep their anger quiet, but it was impossible. Over the next few weeks they had quite a few fights and arguments, and Sam realised what was going on. One time they had a particular vicious shouting match right in front of him and he ran to his room in tears - he was always a sensitive kid.


Adele sat in her baby girl's room, playing chess and trying to compose her thoughts. Yes, Harvey had hurt her, betrayed her, broken her heart, but she he had three children by him and the youngest was about to hit puberty - was it worth losing all that history? Didn't Maya need a father-figure in her teen years? Although, thinking about it that way... considering how Tom had turned out, maybe not letting Maya think that jerks cheating on her was okay would be a better plan. This was a tricky problem, she mused as she moved the pawns and queens around the board. She'd need time to think.

Round Five - Bhalli - Adult Life

Jace Bhalli and Solveig Tellerman are freshly graduated from university and have moved into Jace's mother's house. Will they manage to find any space of their own as a soon-to-be-married couple now Alima and Duncan are expecting Jace's new baby brother or sister?


Jace and Solveig were settling in fairly well - he thought the new decoration theme in the house was a bit too minimalist but he supposed he could deal with it - making any changes could come later, when they were a little more financially stable. As long as they had each other, it was all good. Solveig was glad she'd found someone who would give her backrubs whenever she asked and not demand anything in return!


One of the factors that cemented Alima and Duncan's relationships was their love of music, and Alima's burgeoning pregnancy bump hadn't dampened that in the least. They'd made one of the new rooms their own personal rehearsal space and continued to rock out as fervently as ever.


Solveig had to admit to herself that she'd been very worried about the concept of living with her future mother-in-law. She'd met her a few times while she was at university but living together was a whole other matter! What if she didn't think she was good enough for her little boy?... Of course, Solveig hadn't reckoned on having a mother-in-law like outgoing, cheerful Alima, and her ability to corner you then get you into a really awesome conversation. She was still fairly young, after all, and she'd lived a lot on those years!

"I don't want you to ever feel uncomfortable here. This is your house as much as it is mine!"

"Thanks. I just don't want to get in the way, what with the baby and everything..."

"Don't worry about it! You're great fun to have around, not as stuffy as my twins... I'm not sure what happened there. I mean, I love them, but they're a total mystery to me! But you've got a good head on your shoulders. You're ambitious but you're cool."

Being told you were "cool" by your boyfriend's mother was a little surreal.


In seemingly no time at all, Solveig had become an intern at Sim City Hospital. The hours were long and gruelling but it was what she most wanted out of her life - helping others while netting a great paycheck!


Jace had also got a job, in order to prepare for Alima's incoming baby and any future children of his own. He wasn't as ambitious as his fiancée but work as a police officer was just right for him.


Alima gave birth to a healthy and handsome little baby boy, Gabriel King. He was a perfect mix of both his parents, as far as they were concerned!


Alima couldn't find a way to fully express her joy at having a new baby, especially with a guy she truly loved who would always stand by her. She could stare at little Gabriel for hours, just like she had with her twins, amazed at how she'd made such a cute little thing.


Alima and Solveig had indeed become very close friends, always joking and gossiping - about men, as often as not. Rumours about Harvey Darwin had been spreading around the community and they weren't about to pass up any opportunity to talk about that!


Jace had always wanted children of his own, and helping look after his baby brother fully cemented that desire. He willingly got up for midnight feedings, which was more than could be said for Alima. But everyone knew that after years of being a devoted single parent she deserved some rest.


Gabriel soon became a toddler and Alima began thinking about whether she and her "new" family should move out... but there was plenty of time.