We start our next chapter in this row of tiny town houses in New Maximiliania. Each house is, at the moment, inhabited by one single tenant. The one living in the green house is who we have come to see now:
Jane Stacks, a college graduate with a degree in Psychology. She is a Family Sim and wants to have six grandchildren - knowing a thing or two about psychology could be useful there :-)
While she is still waiting for her sweetheart to arrive, someone else seems to have found theirs: Andrew Martin and Monica Bratford are exchanging some... erm... neigbhourly pleasantries on Jessica Peterson's front steps.
After a few minutes, Jane's visitor is here: It is Matthew Hart, who she met and fell in love with at college. The two of them share the same lifetime want and have two bolts for each other. Matthew brings 18.226 Simoleons with him; together, the young couple have now more than 52.000 Simoleons! Not bad to find a starter home to raise a family in, is it!
The rented town house would have been too small - none of the rooms is big enough for a double bed, for instance - and so Jane and Matthew move to the older part of New Maximiliania and buy this handsome home for their future family.
And right on Monday, when they move in, they start to work towards their lifetime want :-)
Later, Matthew prepares Grandma's Comfort Soup. It is always useful to have someone in the household who can make that soup, since it is very good against colds and flus, and the cold season is soon going to start.
Both Matthew and Jane make some minor adjustments to their appearance in order to raise their mutual attraction from 2 to 3 bolts: Matthew's turn-ons are red hair and being a good cook; Jane already is quite a good cook, and now she changes her hair colour to red. Jane's turn-ons are custom hair and high cleaning skill; I don't have any custom content, but strangely enough, in the choice of hair styles, I still find some that show the * symbol for CC, and so Matthew gets the one that is least horrible :-P But what happened to Jane's figure?! Maybe you remember that, while she was still studying at college, she worked hard to lose some weight, assisted by her housemate Allegra Gorey - and look at her now! The tummy-free shirt is not really to your advantage, sorry, Jane...
The knitted jumper covers her a lot better and is also a lot more sensible now that we have entered autumn. Sure enough, after the changing of hair styles and acquiring some more skills (cooking for Jane, cleaning for Matthew), the two of them are firm 3-bolters!
And Matthew is obviously very happy about that :-) The welcome committee at the new house consists of Cassandra Roseland (nee Goth), Jodie Larson and Ajay Loner.
On Tuesday, first Matthew is invited to Sue's Secret Kitchen...
...and later, while she is taking an afternoon nap, Jane.
She wakes up a lot later than she meant to - it is actually bedtime, and Matthew has crept in between the sheets quietly so as not to disturb her. Why am I so tired? Jane thinks.
The next day, it becomes obvious where that tiredness came from! "To our baby," Jane exclaims. Matthew is the happiest Sim in all of New Maximiliania!
Later, he meets and greets Herbert Goodie, the Infallibly Good Warlock. They become friends, and who knows - maybe one day Matthew will want to learn the path of the light. (You will have noticed that I have not sent him and Jane to work; they still have plenty of money left, and should it run out, they can always dig for treasures, sell paintings and so on.)
On Thursday, Matthew takes a walk to Freya's Rayments. He only has those ugly shorts to wear, and they are certainly not warm enough for autumn and winter. He also gets some new clothes for Jane.
Yes, autumn has firmly set in, and Matthew can be seen on their front lawn, raking leaves and sporting a new pair of jeans and cosy jumper.
Jane takes a nap at least once a day now, with her pregnancy going well (she was sick only once) but making her tired easily.
On Friday morning at 16 minutes past 4...
...Helena Stacks is born! (Helena begins with H, just like her Dad's surname, Hart. Normally, I give my Sims a name that starts with the same letter as their surname, but there are already so many Sims with S in New Maximiliania, and so I decided to give her a name with an H.)
And Jane has immediately shed several pounds, so that she can wear one of the new outfits Matthew bought for her the other day.
Their sleeping pattern is now, of course, not as regular as it used to be :-)
Jane is determined not to gain so much weight back and takes up jogging again, just like she used to do when she still lived with Allegra Gorey in their small house on campus.
She is now a member of the Platinum Gym, while Matthew has just received his membership card to the Aspirational Laboratories. Twice in one night he discovers a new star and gets 500 Simoleons every time; a welcome sum that gets deposited into their bank account immediately.
On Sunday, the delicious scent of Christmas cookies lies in the air at Jane's and Matthew's house.
They have a friend from college over (Klara Vonderstein), eat cookies and drink champagne. "To Christmas, and may the Christmas spirit be with every New Maximilianian!" Matthew exclaims.
Sure enough, Santa himself has heard of the little celebration and comes to join in :-) He leaves a stereo which is placed in the raised living room area of the house.
And there is another Christmas present for Jane and Matthew: Helena grows up to be a cute toddler with green eyes, brown hair and a happy smile :-)
Let me end the first week at this family-oriented household with a shot of their front porch. Doesn't it look cosy?
Matthew and Jane are not married - are they going to tie the knot? Is Matthew going to look into witchcraft through his friend Herbert Goodie? Will Jane have another baby? Shouldn't be too difficult to find out!
The fourth week at the Grunts' begins with Tank cuddling on the porch bench with Hermia Capp, mother of his two sons and future mother of... well, I don't know yet, do I! Tank is 13 days from Elderhood, but still far from reaching his LTW, that of having 20 best pet friends.
General Buzz Grunt is 60 and still happily going to work almost every day (he is a Super Hero).
Ripp is 22 days from Elderhood and busy as usual with his LTW of having 20 simultaneous loves.
On Monday morning, several things happen almost at the same time:
Buck moves back in after having graduated Summa Cum Laude in Drama, and adding more than 16.000 Simoleons to the already well-stocked family bank account. He is in a 3-bolt-relationship with Beatrice Monty, and I am sure that sooner or later, these two will start living together as they have done during their college years.
Ripp makes Blossom Swain (nee Moonbeam) his 9th love.
Bucks LTW is to become Mayor. He is very lucky: right on his first day back home, he is accepted as Judge in New Maximiliania's High Court.
Ripp has, in the meantime, been making the acquaintance of Jennifer Burb.
Buck spends almost his entire afternoon and evening skilling for his career.
On Tuesday, Ripp invites Jennifer Burb over again, in order to intensify their friendship.
But it is Ophelia Nigmos who becomes # 10 on his list of loves - that is one half of his LTW completed.
Tank's dog Rover turns into an Elder.
Bailey, a stray dog with whom Tank already is best friends, appears for a belly-rub and a game of razzle.
Buck returns from the court with a promotion to Senator.
Tank invites his two sons, Christopher (right) and Callum (left), over for the afternoon.
He really does try to be a good father to the boys, in spite of not living with them and their mother, but I'm afraid to tell you that, as soon as he became aware of the small stray dog behind him, he broke off conversation with the boys and only had eyes for little Grace.
Grace came back on Wednesday, and soon she was Tank's 6th best pet friend.
Also on Wednesday night, Buck invites his college sweetheart Beatrice Monty over to watch the stars with him. (Of course I made him invite her over, but I let them decide what they wanted to do together, and they ended up spending half the night on the hard floor boards of the porch!)
Thursday before work, Buck is seen reading on his bed.
An interlude - I am sure you all have seen this before, but it still makes me smile every time I notice a cat using their human's toilet instead of their own litter tray :-)
Ripp and his father spend Thursday morning over a game of chess. Ripp is glad that, after a difficult time during his teenage years, the two of them are now best friends.
When Buck returns from work on that Thursday afternoon, it is with his last promotion - welcome New Maximiliania's newest Mayor! He is now on Permanent Platinum and still has 25 days before he will turn into an Elder. Well done, Buck!
Later that evening, Buck decides on his own that he wants to do some stargazing. Maybe he thought of inviting Beatrice over again and wanted to show her some more constellations. Be it as it may, even though it was only just gone 8.00 pm, he was abducted by Aliens!! There goes the popular theory that abductions only happen between 12.00 and 4.00 am! (Come to think of it, with so many Alien abductions in my game, I am quite sure that some more must have happened outside that time window.)
When he is returned from the space ship, his brothers and visitor Stella Terrano welcome him back. I wonder whether Stella was a bit embarrassed about her relatives' behaviour...!
Poor Buck - he is a Popularity and not a Knowledge Sim, and the abduction upset him quite a bit. Good job he is on Permanent Platinum already and takes good care of his own needs most of the time, as well as doing a lot of the cleaning around the house without being told.
On Friday, Tank's little friend Grace is back. I am sure the stray dog would like to be adopted by Tank, but three dogs and a cat already keep the household busy enough.
Uh-oh... remember Lavender Greenman and her beloved puddle? I don't think I will ever be able again to watch a Sim jump in the puddle without fearing for their sanity :-) Ripp is called to the phone, though, and stops jumping.
Tank has Miranda and their sons over for a meal today. He has been showing the wish of being friends with Christopher for several days now.
On this rainy afternoon out on the porch, Jennifer Burb becomes Ripp's 11th love.
After she has left, he invites Heather Huffington over, his true love, and they celebrate in style that Ripp is one step nearer his LTW, which means he is also one step closer to being with Heather for good.
On Saturday morning, Buck has his pregnancy confirmed.
Stella Terrano makes Ripp's list as # 12.
With the first snow in a thin layer on the ground, General Buzz enjoys a game of throwing the stick with Boogie after he returns from work.
Charlie, who is making his first appearance this week but was already friends with Tank during their last week, becomes his 7th best pet friend.
It is Sunday, and a very pregnant Buck has just helped with the Christmas decorations.
After having spent good part of the morning outside with his dogs, Tank is grateful not only for his Dad having made omelettes for breakfast, but also for the fire crackling merrily in the fireplace.
A rare occurrance, and not planned by me: all four Grunts sit down for a meal together.]
Buck asks Beatrice to come over - she can of course see it with her own eyes, but he still feels the need to explain his pregancy to her.
Tank's old friend Bailey, a stray dog, puts in an appearance. He already is best friends with Tank, so no new addition for his LTW.
With so much snow covering the yard around the house now, Tank invites his sons over for a snowball fight. And during this fight, he and Christopher finally become friends. I expected him to express the same wish for Callum, but that has not yet been the case.
Let's end the fourth week at the Grunts' with Ripp watching telly while his Dad is playing chess with sort-of daughter-in-law Miranda Capp.
Who is going to be Ripp's next love? Will Tank make progress towards his LTW? Is Buck going to have a baby boy, girl or even twins, and when and where will he start living with Beatrice?
