The Furley-Gorey Household: Week 4

Note: This chapter was almost all written when some bug on Blogger made it impossible to save - I had to log out without saving, and lost not only half of the text but also all the pictures that were taken until Friday afternoon. I hope you don't mind that the first part of this chapter is without pictures.

The fourth week with Phineaus, Allegra and the twins is about to begin.

Monday sees Phineaus unlucky with a chance card; he is demoted to Dean.

Looks like it is not the luckiest of days all around - Allegra tries to repair the trash compactor and is electrocuted. 

From then on, every time something in the house needs fixing (and it happens every day - sometimes it is the bathtub, then the toilet, the sink or the computer), the repair service is called.

But the day gets better when first Fenya and then Frida grow up from babies to toddlers. Neither of them is as cute as I thought they would be, but never mind - looks aren't everything, and who knows what they are going to be like as they get older.

I remember having read somewhere that wolves tend to visit lots with children more often than houses without. This pair certainly would have liked to get to know the twins!

It is autumn now, but still warm enough for the kids to play out on the porch.

This is the first time for me to observe a toddler trying to catch butterflies! Fenya is not successful, and lets everyone hear about it :-)

On this sunny Tuesday afternoon, Georgia Newson passes by and is greeted by Allegra. Taking care of the toddlers takes up all of Allegra's time and energy while Phineaus is at work, and so she asks Georgia to help out with some cleaning, which she does - coming from a large family herself, she knows what it is like!

Phineaus and Allegra seem to act more logically than most of my other Sims, when left to their own devices. When he returns from work, Phineaus takes the bills from the mailbox without me telling him to.

It takes a while, but eventually, the twins' sleeping pattern is almost synchronized, which means their parents can get a few hours of rest as well!
"I do so hope we won't get burgled again this week," Allegra says over dinner.

It is Wednesday, and since Phineaus has rolled the want to get married, everything is arranged for the wedding. (It is one of my self-set rules that Sims get only married if one of them has the wish, or if it is crucial to their LTW. And the Sim who has the wish - or has the wish first - is the one whose surname the family takes.)

Guests are Tom Freshe and Ellen Frost, Emily Lee and Dustin Broke, Monica Bratford, Juliette (née Capp) and Aldric Davis, and Chester Gieke.

Everybody keeps gatherin around the champagne bottle to toast, almost missing the actual wedding! But eventually, Allegra Gorey becomes Mrs. Furley, and the party can continue. Don't you love watching what everyone is up to at a Sim-party? I know I do!

On Thursday, Carla Reamon passes by the house and is greeted by Allegra. Once again, she is glad for some neighbourly help, and Carla does not only do the cleaning, but also feeds Fenya.
Phineaus is now back in his former position as Education Minister.

Allegra has to perform on Friday (remember, she is a World Class Ballet Dancer), and since she has to leave before Phineaus returns from work, she enlists the help of a Nanny.

The road in front of their house gets pretty crowded with Allegra's limousine, the repairman's truck and the Nanny's car!

Don't think Allegra and Phineaus are not taking care of the twins - they spend as much time as possible with them, neglecting their own needs as well as general household chores because of them (in this picture, Fenya is the one sitting on the floor, and Frida is on her Daddy's arms).

Later, he greets Ana Patel and asks her in - certainly that sleeveless dress is not warm enough for her on a day like this to be outside!

At 6.00 pm, Frida grows up from toddler to child.

Her choice of clothes is rather mismatched, but it could be worse, and so I am leaving it for now.

It takes her sister about 3 hours longer to grow up - she was having a nap at 6.00.

Of course, now the baby cribs and changing table have to go; they are replaced by proper beds, a wardrobe and a chest of toys.

Saturday morning in the nursery.

Over breakfast, Allegra tells the girls that maybe they will move to a bigger place next week, where each of the girls can have their own room and she can once again have an indoor ballet studio.

The sisters love playing together at their drawing/building blocks table, or with the toys from their chest, but especially Fenya never gets enough of jumping on her bed.

Just as Phineaus returns from work, the first snow begins to fall, much to the delight of the girls.

At dusk, Fenya and her Daddy build a snowman right outside the kitchen window.

"Now we can look at him while we eat!" she says.

Meanwhile, at the front of the house, Frida is pleased to meet one of her many half-siblings. This is Gesine Gavigan, who happens to have the same hairstyle as Frida.

Late at night (or should I say, early Sunday morning), Fenya wakes up and finds that, while she and her sister have been asleep, their parents have lovingly decorated the living room for Christmas.

The kitchen has a festive look, too.

For breakfast, Phineaus makes a batch of Christmas cookies.

It's the perfect time for a Christmas party, and since Phineaus wants his daughters to get to know some more of their half-siblings, he invites several of them and their families over.

Ellen Frost, Freiya and her Dad Tom Freshe are there, as is Klara Williams (née Vonderstein) with her husband's half-Alien daughter Wilma.

There is Wilma, getting to know her half-sister Fenya.

Monica Bratford along with her sweetheart Andrew Martin, Andrew's son Jacob Martin and half-Alien daughter Martina Martin are also invited. Jacob, Fenya and Wilma are smustling away in the nursery :-)

Fenya tells Martina that they are being burgled "...all the time, you know, the burglar comes to our house almost every night! Just ask my Mom and Dad if you don't believe me!"

To feed the hungry hoardes, Phineaus has prepared a large pot of Grandma's Comfort Soup. Frida is talking to Klara about what it is like to have an Alien Dad.

Of course, after they have eaten, everyone needs the bathroom... the classic bathroom traffic jam ensues :-)

But it is quickly dissolving in the most dramatic manner when the Christmas tree and then the parcels next to it catch fire, at first noticed only by Jacob Martin.

Allegra is still at work, Phineaus and the twins are asleep, and so nobody comes to any harm... at first.

When Allegra's limousine pulls up in front of the house, she instantly sees the fire and rushes in, followed by one of her colleagues from the ballet corps.

It could have ended there... But then, in the middle of all this mess, Santa appears - and of course, now the family are all getting up to see him!

Allegra's colleague has fled the scene, and she has just died in the flames, right in front of the little girls and her husband.

Finally, Fenya manages to place an emergency call, and the Firefighter tries to save the house... but can't save Phineaus and Frida.

Poor Fenya - her family gone, all in one terrible night, when this should have been a joyous Christmas celebration!

A première in my game: ever since I have been playing The Sims, I have not once had the Social Worker come to pick up any of my Sims' children. But this is, of course, an exceptional situation, and this picture of the Social Worker coming to get poor traumatized Fenya and take her to the orphanage is the last picture taken while I was still playing this lot.

All this was unplanned, but I let it happen. When I started the game again, I went to check on the house in build mode, and found that it is exactly as it was left, urns, piles of ashes, and everything else. Therefore, I am going to move a different household in here soon, and have them take the urns to the cemetery. Also, I want to try and have someone adopt Fenya - I have no experience with adoptions in the game, but maybe it is possible to have her join one of the other families, preferably one where at least one of her half-siblings already live. Do you think I'll be able to? Suggestions (without hacks, please) are welcome!