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.

Quick Note: How I'm Playing University

Usually I'm trying to keep to a listed schedule of sending students to university based around age, and I'm attempting to not give in to frustration at the lengthy teen years and send them off early as some teens won't want or need to go to university at all. However, sometimes I will break that system for drama purposes or not wanting to only have one sim in university at the time! I am still new to University as an EP (ironic that the first one is probably the last one I'm gonna get! although I'm suddenly tempted by Seasons...) so expect a few bits of confusion from my end :)

Round Four - University - A Beautiful Life

Tom Darwin, Jace and Petal Bhalli, Nathaniel King and Solveig Tellerman are in their final two years of university. Will the relationships between them blossom, and will Tom stop painting and womanising long enough to graduate?


There was a certain routine in their dorm now. The others would study while Tom wooed unsuspecting freshmen and sophomores.

"I can't believe him!" Solveig complained to Nathaniel. "How does he expect to get anywhere in life if all he cares about is getting his leg over?" Nathaniel said nothing, instead contemplating how he was going to move things further with Petal Bhalli.


Tom had indeed fallen off the rails. Instead of going to classes he'd head over to the Student Union or the coffee bar, and as soon as he was done introducing himself to one girl another would make her presence known. He was getting a reputation on campus as a heartbreaker and a layabout but his over-inflated view of himself left him believing he was a casanova and natural genius at art who would get over this whole "academic probation" thing with ease.


Nathaniel didn't need to worry about winning over Petal Bhalli for very long; she made the first move.


And the next move, too! Petal was very forward, a real go-getter, and Nathaniel could see himself marrying her... except for the weirdness that was the fact she was now his step-cousin.


Jace and Solveig were moving forward too, with considerably less weirdness. Jace had known for a while that Solveig was the one for him, and when he proposed she accepted without a moment's pause.


Nathaniel wasn't the only one who'd noticed the messiness on the family tree - Petal was kind of freaked out by it too.

"It's not like you're blood-related," pointed out her future sister-in-law. "There's no laws against it! Plus you already know your mother and your step-dad like him. If you love him, go for it. I want to see you as happy as me and Jace!"


Tom ended up failing out entirely and the school wouldn't keep him on academic probation forever - he had to leave.

"See, if you'd just worked harder - " began Solveig. Tom rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to make it big without a stupid degree, you'll see!"


Jace had told his mother about his engagement straight away, and soon Alima came to visit. She was heavily pregnant now, which weirded Jace out a bit, but he was glad to see that she got on well with Solveig.


Plus it was nice to be able to begin bonding with a new baby brother or sister!


Even though they'd met before and got on pretty well, Nathaniel was nervous about talking to Alima now he was dating her daughter - especially considering the fact that the big baby bump contained his future cousin. But Alima's friendly manner put him at ease and all the oddness finally dissipated.


So much so, in fact, that Nathaniel worked up the courage to propose. He'd liked Petal since they were teenagers, and now they were in love - a perfect story.


Petal accepted with a squeal of glee and a huge hug.


College days can't last forever, and soon the final exams had come and gone and it was time to leave.

"Congratulations on making Summa Cum Laude! A perfect 4.0 GPA!"

Solveig smiled. "You didn't do so bad yourself. Magma Cum Laude! Way to beat all the boys!"

"Yeah, we pretty much rule."


The term ended with sadness as well has happiness. The twins were going to be split up for the first time in their lives; Petal was moving in with Nathaniel and his family, and Jace was going home to Alima and Duncan and bringing Solveig with him.

"Promise you'll call! And come and visit!"

"Only if you promise you'll visit us!"


Note: All Tom wanted to do was mess around with girls and occasionally paint masterpieces - he didn't even roll up wants to influence people to do his work for him! I'm surprised he didn't get kicked out before Allyn, she was actually mildly more hardworking, but hey. As for our two new couples - my family tree's getting all twisted up already, lol.

Round Four - Bachman - Tune In, Drop Out

Allyn Bachman was expelled from university for poor grades after only two semesters and is now making a go of things for herself in the big wide world. Her unofficial boyfriend, Tom Darwin, is still at university and isn't known for his fidelity... how will she cope with being alone?


It turned out that the apartment Allyn had found was not all it had been advertised to be. The kitchen fittings and other furnishings were old and ugly, and the last occupant had left paint-stains all over the floor. Saying she was disappointed would be an understatement.


She brought it up with the landlord but he laughed in her face.

"Ooooh! You are so freaking lucky this is the only apartment in my price-range."


Of course, Allyn being Allyn she didn't spend her meager supply of money on actually improving the place but on new clothes, easels, art supplies and a mobile phone so that she would never miss a call from Tom.


They met up in a bar down-town to drink and sing karaoke together, but Allyn couldn't help noticing the looks he gave to a couple of college chicks who'd come along for the ride - she knew that look. It didn't fill her with confidence about her place in Tom's heart.


Eventually one of the co-ed tarts dragged him out onto the dancefloor and Allyn retreated to the relative safety of the bar, ready to drown her sorrows. A rich-looking guy next to her bought her a few drinks, probably thinking he'd get something out of her, but she merely said thanks then went on her way.


Tom dropped in unannounced the next day while Allyn was in the middle of painting an ode to her hangover.

"Sorry about last night, babe," he said, then kissed her. She didn't resist - she didn't want to.


Allyn knew she was being a fool, that she should be able to say no to him, but hey - she knew the score. They weren't exclusive. Two can play that game! She'd find her own fun while he was off at college banging other chicks.


She started by meeting her neighbours - there was a promising enough prospect and they went on one short date but it didn't lead anywhere in the end. She just didn't feel that "spark".


Then there was another guy who she went on a couple of dates with, but he was too clingy. He kept turning up while she was still hungover and wandering around in her nightdress!


And the guy who came home from work with her? Ugh. She couldn't believe he'd try to hit on her, she was way out of his league.


After all that she decided it was pointless to date around and worked on her art instead. Tom would be getting back from SSU soon enough and he'd already said he wanted to move in with her - as much as she wanted to be free and easy, she was stuck with him. She loved him.

Round Four - King - Baby Dreams

Adrian and Noriko King's eldest child Nathaniel has left for university, but they don't have time to miss him - Noriko has her little girls, Miranda and Liliana, to look after, and Adrian has to work hard to pay for them all... children are expensive!


Noriko did miss Nathaniel, but he called home frequently and her mind was wrapped up in looking after her new little girls. Liliana was getting bigger day by day, and Miranda had just started school.


Soon Liliana had reached that age where she was no longer just a cuddly little baby and could toddle around and cause trouble. And that she did - she was extremely excitable and demanded hugs and general companionship all the time. Miranda was not convinced. She was an introverted soul; a little sister who would get into all her things was not on her wish-list!


Still, somehow she couldn't resist her baby sister's cute little face. Despite Miranda's initial protests they grew very close and she even let Liliana play with her dollhouse!


Miranda had met Maya Darwin at school and despite her usual shyness she was keen to make a friend that wasn't her parents or her baby sister. Thankfully Maya was on much the same wavelength as her, although Miranda made a slight faux pas in going on about how great new additions to the family were. But how was she supposed to know what was going on with the Darwins?


Adrian had a blow to his self-esteem when he made a bad decision at work and was demoted. How was he supposed to pay into the girls' college funds now?!


In a blink of an eye, Liliana had started school too. She was very different from her big sister - they were both kind and playful, but Liliana was messier and MUCH more outgoing, preferring finger-painting and running around with her friends to those musty old books and silly animals...