The Landgraab Family: Week 6

The Landgraab mansion has undergone some renovation work during the last round, but the family are still the same: Malcolm, his young wife Castanea (nee Capp, one of Tybalt Capp's plantchildren), and Malcolm's half-Alien twins, teenagers Lance and Lilo.

Is Castanea looking at Simternet porn?! No, such a thing does not exist in New Max. But she has just gotten out of bed on this Monday morning, with fond memories of the night before ;-)

Her lifetime want is to become Hall of Famer, and finally she has found a position as Rookie.

But before the day starts properly, she and Malcolm drive to Amelia's Closet for some new outfits.

Castanea makes her purchases - money is not an issue. I can't wait to see her new outfits! Some of them you'll see during this week. Most of the new ones will be courtesy of Twoyys4me, who sent me files with the additional Maxis-made Sims2 outfits that were available with various pre-order packs or from the official store. Thank you, Twoyys4me - I never expected to get any new stuff for my Sims now, especially not with my "no CC"-policy :-)

Meanwhile, Malcolm joins Cornwall Capp for a game of chess, watched by Jessica Greenman (formerly Picaso).

Back home, Castanea repairs the childrens' shower. The family employ a Butler and can easily afford to call the repair service, but Castanea needs mechanical skill points for her career anyway.

Here is Lilo on her way to the schoolbus.

And her brother Lance.

The Butler arrives and gets his daily tip. The Landgraabs are very generous employers.

After school, B'Elanna Beaker comes home with the twins. She is their half-sister, sharing the same Alien father.

Malcolm and Castanea celebrate her first day at work :-)

Tuesday starts with a midnight cooking session of Castanea and Lance.

"We are soon going to pack our bags and move to college... I am really looking forward to that," Lilo says. She wants to become a World Class Ballet Dancer, her brother a Celebrity Chef (which explains the midnight cooking).

Actually, nobody in this family HAS to cook - the Butler does it anyway. But his menue is a bit boring, consisting of nearly always the same dishes.

Later that day, Castanea invites some of her family over. Some of them are still plantsims, but some have taken the step to become full humans, like herself.

Of course the indoor pool is very popular with the plantsims :-)

But the humans like it, too.

Wednesday morning, Castanea decides on Chef Salad for breakfast.

Later, I have her repair the computer - with mixed results ;-)

It is Gardener's Day today. He, too, gets his regular tip, inspite of there hardly being any work left for him - the Butler has done almost everything.

Meike Riley and Stephanie Stacks (another half-sister) comes home with the teenagers today.

Soon, they all meet in the pool. Meike does a dive bomb (is that what it is called in English?), while Lance and Lilo try to swim out of her way as fast as possible.

In the evening, the fitness-conscious Castanea invites her step-children and their friends to join her for a jogging round through the neighbourhood.

Thursday sees the family all having breakfast together - for the last time.

Today, the twins move to college. We are soon going to check on them there.

The cleaner is filling in a hole in the front garden, supervised by the Butler.

Castanea comes home with her first promotion: she is now a Starter.

Malcolm starts Friday morning with a healthy helping from his own bar ;-)

He makes sure to drink enough water - something everyone should take care of, especially elderly people who often neglect this need.

Castanea has just been promoted to All Star and can't wait to get on the phone to tell her friends and family.

On Saturday morning, for no apparent reason, both Malcolm and Castanea wake up at 5:18, long before either of them are fully rested. I send them straight back to bed.

Castanea's outfit and the world map on the wall are both new.

Sunday starts with a broken sink. But... much more dramatic things are in store for the Landgraabs today, I'm afraid.

In spite of the Butler being there, Malcolm manages to get to a pile of leaves before him, and sets it on fire... and not only the leaves, but also himself! What is the Butler going to do?

Nothing, that's what!

Poor Malcolm perishes in the flames at 66, without ever having reached his LTW. (It used to be "own 5 top level businesses", but when he owned 3, it changed to "reach Golden Anniversary" - you can re-read that sad story in one of the former chapters.)
The Grim Reaper can't believe his eyes - there is the Butler, sweeping the tiny pile of ashes, but didn't lift a finger to help his employer while there still would have been time!]

When the young widow returns from work, she is devastated.

Poor Castanea, she really takes it hard.

All alone in that huge house now. There is only one thing for it:

Call her family over in her hour of need.

"Malcolm was my love, although at first I only married him to help our Dad with his LTW," she confesses to her brother Clover. (Tybalt wants to marry off 6 children.)

How are Lilo and Lance going to cope with their father's death?
Is Castanea going to stay at the house? Will she ever remarry?