The Patel Family: Week 7

The Patels live here in a quiet part of New Max. (Simply click on the label/tag with their name and scroll down to their sixth week.)

If you have (re-)read the previous week with the Patels, you may remember that Parvati has had twins with Cedric Cooke - not only to fulfill her own lifetime want of graduating three children from college, but also to help her Mum to have six grandchildren.
One of the twins, Priya (named so after her paternal great-grandmother, or was it her great-great-grandmother?), grew into a toddler at the end of the previous week without a hitch. Her twin brother Patrick didn't make his age transition no matter how many times his mother tried to "help with birthday".
Now, upon entering the household nearly 2 years (in real life) later, he becomes a toddler almost instantly without any prompting from my part.

Ramir, Parvati's Dad, is the only family member on Permanent Platinum ever since he became a Rock God at the age of 58. He is now 72, and unlike with other Sims on PP, I can not afford not to control him - his help is needed with the little ones and the household in general. Here, he is teaching his granddaughter Priya to walk.

Ana is the most loving grandmother you can imagine. She is now 70 and hopes to live long enough to see two more sets of twins arrive.

This Monday morning, I change the facade of the house to a warmer colour. It looks even more homely now, doesn't it, as befits as family home.

Parvati has cheesecake for breakfast - what else!

And at 1:07 pm...

...she gives birth to twin brothers Paul...

...and Param.
Param is named so after the uncle he never met: Parvati had two younger siblings, the twins Param and Padma. They both died tragically in a fire at a shop. This was a long time ago, but the family of course will never forget.

sAna is once again happily bottle-feeding her grandchildren. She has four now - only two to go!

But then, completely out of the blue for me, Ana is met by the Grim Reaper while washing her hands. She looks as caught by surprise as I am, and definitely does NOT want to leave this world. Alas, it can't be helped; moments after this picture was taken, all that remains of Ana is a small urn on the bathroom floor.

As I said, Ana's death came much sooner than everyone thought. Ramir is devastated, and little Pryia wonders where her beloved Nana Ana is; is she maybe hiding behind this door?

In spite of the untimely loss of Parvati's mother, the kids need all her attention. On Tuesday morning, Patrick finally learns to walk - another milestone in the life of a toddler.

Ramir decides it is time to step in with more than just his own hands. He hires a gardener...

...and a maid.

He also takes care of the bills before leaving for work that day.

When he returns several hours later, Florence Delarosa gets off the limousine with him. Didn't she die years ago? Yes, she did - and instantly turns into a ghost. The message that informs me that "Ramir brought a colleague home from work today" disappears, as does Florence's ghost. A weird bug! (This happens every day Ramir works this week.)

It is Wednesday morning when Parvati feeds little Param while Ramir looks after his only granddaughter, Priya. Parvati watches them and thinks, not for the first time: "I honestly couldn'd do it without my Dad."

[She is also very grateful for the household help and gives the maid a generous tip of 100 Simoleons.

For at least one day now, Parvati has shown the wish to marry. Hardly surprising, what with four little ones at home, her mother just died and her father not getting any younger. But she knows she can not marry the father of her children - Cedric is married to Helena Stacks and has other children with her.
I allow her to try and find suitable husband material with the matchmaker's help.

She introduces her to Prof. Thomas Collins - an elderly man. Parvati does not find him totally unattractive, but she does not wish to marry someone so much her senior, and ends the date as soon as is decently possible.

Her children are all asleep, and her father does not need to go to work today, so I send her to Doc Alan's Hangout in the hope of her meeting a more suitable man there.

Several men are here, some residents and some townies. For Parvati, Christopher Capp appears the most interesting one.

She tells him that she has two toddlers and two babies, and is looking for a man to marry.

Maybe that came across a little too bluntly, maybe it is also the fact that Christopher finds Gesine Gavigan a lot more attractive than Parvati - anyway, he rejects her flirting twice.

Parvati then orders something to eat at the counter, where Christopher and Gesine already have taken seats. "She should look for her own man, not try and interrupt our... whatever it is," Gesine muses loud enough for her to hear. A rather downcast Parvati goes home as soon as she has eaten her gyros.

And just in time to help her babies with their birthdays! First Paul...

...and then Param turn into toddlers.
Take a deep breath, Parvati - if you thought you were busy before, you'll see what "busy" really means, with four toddlers!

Ramir and his daughter take turns in sleeping, eating and looking after their personal hygiene. There is always one of the little ones demanding their attention for one thing or other, plus they need of course be taught their skills.
Precious little time remains for their own fun and comfort, as any parent of small children will confirm. On Thursday morning, Ramir manages to sit down for a few minutes and read a few pages of the newspaper before the "show goes on".

Thankfully, the four-toddlers-phase lasts only until 6:00 pm on Thursday, when first Priya...

...and then her twin Patrick turns into a child. Now that they can look after themselves much more than before, plus are at school during good part of the day, things will get a little easier for their mother.

On Friday morning, Patrick dresses nicely (not my choice - he age-transitioned into this outfit) and decides on a new hairstyle (my choice, and he loves it!).

Priya, too, has a new hairstyle. I have also given her glasses, since her huge eyes are a bit scary. It is the first school day for the twins, and they are excited.

After they come home at 3:00 pm, they are allowed some TV time to wind down before Parvati helps first Priya and then Patrick with their very first homework.

At dinner time, she sits down with them for spaghetti bolognese. "We're the two big kids now, and can sit with Mummy at the table," Patrick remarks proudly.

The children are long in bed by the time Ramir returns from work. They do not see their granddad being met by the Grim Reaper. He introduces him to his Hula girls as if they were his new background dancers. "You'll rock on in the next world, old Rock God," Mr. Reaper smiles. Ramir is sad to leave his daughter and grandchildren, but he is also looking forward to being reunited with Ana. He was 78.

On Saturday morning, Parvati does her best to reassure little Param that his granddad is well, even though he can not see him anymore.

As soon as she is out of earshot and sight of her children, Parvati breaks into tears. She sorely misses her parents, but knows that her children need her now more than ever.

The only good thing about both grandparents being gone is that the older twins can have their room now. Walls and floor are left unchanged, but the marital bed is replaced by two single ones, and a desk for their homework is set up.

Winter has arrived, and Parvati surprises the children with the beautiful Santa painting someone (I can not remember who; probably Ramir) made long ago - until now, it was stored up in the attic. She also puts a dolls house in the corner for the siblings to play with.

She then puts up some more decoration and lights the fire so that everything is nice and cosy for the children when they get up.

Early in the afternoon, she makes a batch of Santa cookies and invites the children's father over. Cedric Stacks, formerly Cooke, has not met them yet - he willingly helped Parvati with her lifetime want, but his heart belongs to Helena.

The four of them share the cookies, and Cedric seems to be rather at ease with his formerly unknown daughter and son. Something of an awkward moment occurs when Priya mentions that "Mummy had a date with Professor Collins a few days ago".

"Well, I hope your Mummy makes him her friend, and I also hope that you and your brother will become best friends with me," Cedric says quickly.

On Sunday, Parvati invites Cedric over again; this time, she asks him to bring Stella along, one of the daughters he has with Helena. Stella is more or less the same age as her older twins, and she thinks it would be nice if the half-siblings became friends.

Stella and Priya do indeed get along well.

On her own accord, Parvati joins little Paul at the dolls house.

The week ends with Paul (left) and Param (right) growing up - no more toddlers at this household!

Will Parvati try her hand at dating again, after she was not very lucky last time? Is Cedric going to establish a good relationship with his children? How does Helena feel about it all?