The Stacks Family: Week 9

Click here if you wish to (re-)read week 8 with this family. 

After a long time (2 1/2 years in real life!), we are finally back at the Stacks' place. This family is one of my favourites in all of New Max, even now that the founders of the family, Matthew Hart and Jane Stacks (original students who met and fell in love with at uni) are gone.
Who lives in the house now?

Matthew Hart's and Jane Stack's daughter, Helena, with her husband Cedric (formerly Cooke, son of Julien Cooke) are the heart and soul of the family these days.
Helena is 60 and has been on Permanent Platinum ever since she became a Rock Goddess 8 days from Elderhood. Cedric is a little younger and needs one more promotion before he will be Chief of Staff and make his lifetime want come true.

They have three daughters: Teenage twins Stephanie (pictured) and Stacy (not pictured - sorry, I forgot!)...

...and young Stella, who only grew up to school-kid age at the end of last week.

It is the first day of summer, and the first day of the week. While her husband and children have all left for work and school, Helena plays with and feeds a stray wolf who has come up on the back porch. (As she is on PP, I rarely control her.)

By the way, I have of course checked every family member's relationships, and Cedric knows police officer Demi Love - he will try to befriend her so that she can become a permanent resident of New Maximiliania.

Speaking of Cedric, he returns from work and has indeed gotten his last promotion! Now, 3 days from Elderhood, he is the latest Chief of Staff and has reached PP like his wife.

Tuesday starts with Helena mopping the bathroom floor before the girls get up and occupy the bath. She does this without me telling her.

It is also the day Stella gets her first A+!

Paul Patel gets off the school bus with her. He is Stella's half-brother; they share the same father (Cedric) but have different mothers. Cedric has helped Parvati Patel with her lifetime want - all of her four children are from him, and Helena's three daughters are his, too.

Early on Wednesday morning, while the girls are still asleep, I catch Cedric tenderly looking at Stella. The autonomous "tuck in" action is one I find particularly endearing about the Sims, just like the hug children give their parents when they return from work.

With the girls at school and Cedric at work, Helena seems a little lost. Her job usually means she is out during the evenings, when everyone else is in. But since she does not roll the want to retire, she will keep going to work.

Helena and Stella share a moment of mother-daughter fun on Thursday morning.

Once more, Helena is on her own after everyone else has left for school or work. She often thinks of Cedric while he's out during the day. Isn't that sweet?

When Stella gets off the schoolbus at 3:00 pm, her halfbrother Param Patel (Paul Patel's brother) is with her.

Cedric arrives home an hour later and is greeted with a big hug from his youngest. Meanwhile, Helena has been on the phone and invited friends and family over.

It is Cedric's birthday!

Everyone gathers in the kitchen to witness him blowing out the candles.

Now he is a Senior Sim like his wife.

Friday morning starts with a bit of very necessary cleaning the girls' upstairs bathroom for Helena, just like earlier this week.

Again, she thinks of her husband a lot while he is out at work.

Stephanie and Stacy play a round of Red Hands to boost their fun level before sitting down to do their home work.

It may very well be the last time they are all gathered around the table for dinner that Friday night - the girls could soon be leaving for college, and Stella will grow up into a teenager in a few days.

 The twins have breakfast together on Saturday morning. "I shall be glad not to see another school book anytime soon," Stacy says. Unlike Stephanie, she has rolled the wish to go to college only once; for her twin, it has remained a permanent wish nearly all her teenage time.

Stella loves the lemonade stand, and is delighted when her Mum buys a cup.

Later, while she plays catch with Stephanie, their parents have fun with the lemonade stand, too.

Cedric takes Stella and Stacy to the Electronics Supercenter, a community lot I can not remember having played at before.

Stacy discovers the pinball machine.

Later, Stella takes over, while Stacy and her Dad have a hotdog outside.

Not one single Sim appears on the community lot the entire time they are there, and so I send them back home. Also, Stella is very tired and needs a nap.

Before that, though, she fulfills a wish by having Stephanie swing her round.

Stacy wants a date, and as she has the closest friendship with Carl Capp, she invites him over. Stephanie watches as the two engage in some gossiping and then flirting.

Cedric pretends not to notice what his daughter is doing with her guest. The two have just shared their first kiss and then proceeded straight to making out.

Upstairs, Stella gets up from her nap...

...to grow up into a pretty teenage girl, unnoticed by the rest of the family. The lot decides on her aspiration to be Pleasure; her lifetime want is to be Celebrity Chef, just like her older sister Stacy.

The next morning - Sunday, and the last day of our week with the Stacks -, gone are the pigtails and Stella looks more like the young lady she is.

Cedric invites Demi Love over, the police officer who is eligible for permanent residence in New Maximiliania. All week, he has worked on their friendship by phone calls, and today, she does indeed become his best friend - but won't accept the invitation to move in. I know from experience with other ex-townies and NPCs that at least one more day of "best friends" has to pass before they accept.

Sunday often means family day for my Sims (something I have learned from other Sims2-players), and Helena invites Fenya and Hailey Hart as well as Hailey's son Harry. Remember that Helena's Dad was Matthew Hart; he was also the father of Hailey, and Fenya was adopted by Helena's parents after her entire family (Phineaus Furley, his wife Alegra Gorey and their other children) died in a house fire caused by a Christmas tree.

It is also the day Stephanie leaves for college.

A few hours after the taxi has taken Stephanie to the next chapter in her life, Stacy grows up. She never spun the wish to go to college again, and so she'll stay here for now.

She finds a job in the culinary career right away, and since she dreams of becoming a Celebrity Chef, she immediately drives to her job as a Dish Washer. The week ends with her returning with her first promotion: She will now work as a Drive Through Clerk.

It is always a joy to play this household! The girls and their parents get along well, even though each family member has their own mind. Family meals are lively, and friendships maintained. Next, we'll see how Stephanie is settling in at college.