The Singles Family: Week 4

Click here if you want to read Week 3.

The surname Singles is next on my alphabetical list, and so we are here at the modest home of Nervous and Erin Singles.
They are 62 and 64 respectively (Erin being the older one), and have never worked in their life. Erin was always focused on her lifetime want of having 20 best friends and reached it some time ago. Nervous always dreamt of seeing his offspring achieve what he never could: graduate from college. Sadly, though, only their oldest son, Shaun, did that. The younger two, the twins Selma and Stig, perished in a fire at their dorm, when a pile of burning leaves got out of control.
As if Nervous knew he and Erin are too old now to have more children, his LTW has mysteriously and autonomously changed: He now wants to max out 7 skills.
       

Shaun (pictured here sleeping in the same bed as his father, by coincidence) has moved back in with his parents. He and his mother are very close, and so it is fitting that he has the same LTW. College helped enourmously, and he had 20 best friends 25 days before he would reach Elderhood. Well done, Shaun!
See the painting above the bed? It wasn't there last round. Someone bought it at Gavigan's Gallery.
      

The painting in the middle here was also bought at the gallery. Actually, the family can not afford expensive paintings - or anything expensive, for that matter - what with nobody holding a job. Their current bank account shows a modest 3.461 Simoleons;  not worrisome, but not exactly plenty, either.
Therefore, the painting and some furniture that will not be used anymore (such as Stig's and Selma's beds) are being sold, along with other superfluous stuff found in their inventories. Also, there is a little money inherited from friends that have died during the round, and suddenly, the Singles find themselves almost "rich" at 6.243 Simoleons.
       

Selma and Stig as children. This is one photo the Singles will never take off their wall.
      

Poor Nervous! On this Monday morning he wakes up with the full impact of his children's tragic death hitting him.
       

Only the Shrink can help. It is so rare that I see him in my game!
      

Now that Nervous has decided he wants to max out all his skills I send him downstairs to study mechanical.
       

With so much money now on their account, the Singles decide to slightly change the layout of their upstairs floor. The way-too-large bathroom is made into a smaller, "just right"-sized room, and the larger part of it becomes Shaun's bedroom. Up until now, he still officially slept on the landing in the bed he had when he was a kid. There are still 2.181 Simoleons left.
      

"My dear son, come home to live with his old mom & dad, to help us get over the loss of the twins..." Nervous thinks when Shaun sits next to him on the settee. Shaun wonders how his mom is really coping.
       

Still on the Monday, he rolls the want of getting a job in the business career. He is on Permanent Platinum and so actually I do not really control him anymore, but I think it is good for him - and his parents - if he brings some money in so that they will be able to afford a tiny bit of luxury in their old age.
Having graduated Summa Cum Laude in Political Sciences comes in very useful now - Shaun starts as Senior Manager the same day.
       

Just like the photo of her twins, Erin will never take down the drawings Selma and Stig made when they were little.

Shaun comes home from work with a promotion to Vice President already on his first day - and with a townie lady who has to leave straight away.
     

To celebrate his promotion, he invites over his girlfriend, Jill Indie, nee Smith. She was married to Mitch Indie until Mitch's early death (another fire - maybe you remember it) and moved back into her childhood home along with her stepdaughter, Mitch's half-Alien child Isabella, where the two of them now live with Jill's older brother Johnny Smith.
I can not really remember how and when Jill and Shaun met, but they are in love. Strangely enough, though, all week Shaun does not roll one single want about Jill.
       

On Tuesday morning, Erin cooks a breakfast of grilled salmon. The fish was in someone's inventory; they must have been fisihing while on a community lot or invited over at someone's house with a pond in the garden.
      

Nervous tends the apple tree in front of the house. He looks happy, doesn't he! Being out in the fresh air and doing something useful are the best cure for a grieving heart.
       

Later, I have him repair the broken bathtub upstairs, He wants all those skills, so he can acquire them by doing the necessary jobs around the house.
       

Shaun comes home with a promotion to President. You can tell that he's not been well today.
      

Wednesday morning sees the family having left-over salmon for breakfast. I wonder whether Shaun is talking about his own plans for marriage (he doesn't have any!) or telling his father how he admires his parents for having such a good, stable marriage.
       

The limousine that picks up Shaun for work today looks a bit out of place in front of the modest "box" house, but if you look closely, maybe you can see that the front door (which was of the cheapest kind before) has been replaced by a more expensive model. Same is true for all the doors inside.
      

Nervous maxes out his mechanical skill today - that's one down, six to go!
       

Shaun is still not well, but diligently goes to work every day.
       

On Thursday morning, Erin has made another batch of grilled salmon. She often thinks of the many best friends she has, and some of them ring her from time to time.
       

Looks like Shaun does not feel like eating salmon for the third time in a row. He prefers to make his own pancakes instead.
       

These luxurious new chairs cost the family nearly all the money Shaun has earned so far - their account is down to 263 Simoleons now.
       

Erin takes the contents of the kitchen bin out to compost on her own own accord.
       

Nervous maxes out his cooking skill.
       

Shaun can often be seen looking at the various paintings, plaques and other decorative objects in the house, like this Friday morning.
      

He went to bed so late (or, rather, early on the Friday morning) that he misses work that day. Getting up at lunch time, his mother sits with him for a plate of chef salad. Again, marriage seems to be an interesting topic. Erin tells her son that neither she nor Nervous ever thought of cheating - once they had found each other, they knew they were "Mr. and Mrs. Right" and never looked at another man or woman again.
       

Upstairs, Nervous has put his son's career reward to good use and maximises his Charisma.
      

Later that same night, he starts Yoga - and the very convenient bug I've observed a few times in my game already (but mostly with children skipping rope) kicks in, causing Nervous to max out his body skill within minutes. He now has only cleaning, logic and creativity left to complete.
      

It is Saturday morning, and Shaun, who normally is so close to his mother, sternly lectures her for having broken the toy robot (purchased a long time ago at Sofie Jocque's toy shop). A son should not talk to his mother like that!
       

Erin does not only immediately repair the toy robot, she also gets down to repair the broken computer (I think Shaun did that, by the way!). It doesn't quite go to plan, but she succeeds eventually.
       

As you can see, a few hours later Erin is alright again. And Shaun has obviously realized that it was not very nice how he behaved towards his mother this morning, and tries to cheer her up again by "busting a move".
      

By Sunday morning, Nervous has maxed out his cleaning skill.
       

Erin is a good autonomous Sim; she cleans, cooks and looks after her personal hygiene without me having to tell her anything.
      

Shaun thinks of his dead siblings every time he walks past their drawings. If Stig was still alive, by now he would have graduated.
      

Same is true for Selma.

Will this family ever get over the tragic loss of their youngest members?
Erin is now 71, Nervous is 69. They still have some years ahead, I think. The family account is at 1.348 Simoleons at the moment, and Shaun will stay on his job until he'll wish to quit or retire. Is he going to see Jill again? Will he help his parents to move to a nicer place with more luxury to enjoy for their last years?