The Hart-Stacks Family: Week 4

At the beginning of the 4th week at the Hart-Stacks family, we find the girls' bedroom a bit changed - the wardrobe has been moved to the landing, to make room for a 3rd bed (hard to see in this picture, I know, but there really are 3 beds in there now). Who is it for?

Have Matthew and Jane had another child? (Whatever happened between the sheets there, it must have been good!!)

No, Jane is not pregnant again. But Matthew has just rung the adoption service. (His first call was not successful - at that time, there were 1.365 Simoleons in the family account, and the social worker informed him that these were not sufficient funds for a family eligible for adopting. Matthew sold some stuff from his inventory, such as the computer left by Mr. Humble, raising their funds to 3.434 Simoleons, and his second call was accepted.)

"You know, our Hailey has 15 half-siblings all throughout New Maximilania," he explains to his wife. "And one of them has recently been left an orphan after all her family have tragically perished in a house fire." You remember the Furleys, don't you? The tragic events that lead to Fenya being an orphan are recorded here.

The social worker has made her appointment with Matthew for Tuesday, 10.00 am, which leaves Jane with plenty of time to get things ready for the arrival of their new daughter. The preparations include her doing some groceries shopping at the Pentameter Parkway.

While walking to the groceries store, Jane thinks about the adoption and what it will mean for their family.

She does not meet any neighbours at the shop and walks back home straight after making her purchase.

Hailey is very excited about getting a new sister - and a real half-sister of hers, too!

But she has to wait until tomorrow. Her older sister, Helena, spends the evening out in the yard, talking to her best friend Melrose Moonbeam. He seems to be wanting to take their friendship further, doesn't he ;-)

On Tuesday morning at 10.00, while the girls are at school, the social worker's car pulls up, and Fenya Furley gets off.

She is now Fenya Hart, and everyone hopes that she will get over the traumatic event that wiped out her entire family, and be able to feel happy and cheerful again with her new family.

Hailey brings home an A+ from school that day, as well as a little surprise for her new sister:

Wilma Williamson, who is also one of their numerous half-sisters.

Now that Fenya is here and the two girls have the standard hairstyle every little girl in my game seems to end up with automatically, I decide to give Hailey a little makeover. Her hair is now brown, like her Dad's and Helena's, cut short, and she wears specs. She seems to like it!

"You know, Fenya, we really ARE sisters, we have the same Alien dad," Hailey tells the new family member to make her feel even more welcome.

The girls share their room willingly.

On Wednesday, Pablo Picaso accompanies the younger girls home from school.

Matthew spends good part of the day making reagents for the spells he uses most, such as getting rid of the leaves in the yard or water puddles in the bathroom.

But on Thursday, he uses his magic abilities to cure Jane, who has caught the flu.

Looks like young Fenya has settled in well with her new family - she brings home an A+ on her second day at school.

It has been Matthew's wish to get the children into private school, and with all three of them being A+ students now, he invites the headmaster over for his evaluation visit. The first thing he does is use a spell on him, to put him into a good mood.

Jane, who has the highest cooking skill in the family, prepares dinner, while Matthew is giving the headmaster a tour of the house.

He hopes that the two college diplomas on the bedroom wall duly impress the headmaster.

That looks nice, doesn't it, and so charmingly presented by Jane!

Matthew is pleased to see the two younger girls playing nicely after they have finished their homework as he shows their room to the headmaster.

Dinner goes down well; there have been 40 points for the tour and 29 for the food.

Schmoozing proves to be most successful when Matthew performs his old school cheer for the headmaster - all three girls are accepted into private school!

On Friday, they are all seen heading to the school bus in their new smart school uniforms.

Jane has been out for a jog, but it is already autumn and a bit chilly, so she warms herself at the fireplace afterwards.

Saturday morning sees the entire family having breakfast together.

In the afternoon, the children are allowed to invite their closest friends over. Some of them are half-siblings as well, such as Lilo Landgraab here.

Lilo's twin brother Lance, Matthew, Selma Singles and Hailey smustle away in the kitchen, while Helena talks to Melrose Moonbeam.

Melrose's twin sister Myra teaches Lilo the Hula.

Once the younger children have left and her little sisters have gone to bed, Helena lights the fire and gives Melrose a backrub. (I expected the two of them to start flirting and kissing after that, but it did not happen.)

Matthew and Jane agree that it was the best decision they have made this week when they adopted Fenya.

It is Sunday morning, and Matthew cleans up the bathroom quicker than anyone without magical powers could have done it.

Fenya is a very neat little girl and never has to be told to make her bed. Hailey loves baking her own breakfast muffin in the toy oven.

The gypsy lady leaves a magic lamp on the back porch of the house. It is not needed at present, and will - for now - just sit there.

All those muffins have made Hailey gain a bit more weight than what is good for her ;-)

But her older sister can still swing her around!

In the afternoon, the house is decorated not only for Christmas, but also with party balloons. A delicious berry cake and Christmas cookies are placed on the kitchen counter. What for?

It is Hailey's birthday! She is now a teenager. The lot decided for her to be a Romance Sim, and her LTW is to have 20 simultaneous lovers - not my favourite LTW, I must admit. (Her LTW did not take long to appear; it was visible by the time she went to bed, still on the same day.)

The week ends with Helena leaving for college, where we are going to catch up with her eventually. 
Next time we'll visit this household, both Jane and Matthew will turn into elders, and Fenya will grow up into a teenager. I really like this house and the family in it, and am glad Fenya Furley has found a good home!