The Cho Family: Week 1

A couple of years ago, Vivian Karana married Etokas Cho. Mr and Mrs Cho soon had a little girl and gave her the name Etsu. All was well in their world... 

...until Etokas died "in the line of duty", according to Vivian's Maxis-written biography. She was now a widow and single mother. 

Little Etsu grew into a happy toddler nonetheless, her mother working hard to give her all the love and attention she would normally have gotten from both her Mum and Dad. 

Moving into the ground floor of Sentinel Apartments in Belladonna Cove, Vivian soon learned that her upstairs neigbhour, Timothy Riley, was also widowed and raising his daughter Sally alone. The two became good friends.

After school and on weekends, Sally often spends time at Vivian's, playing with Etsu. Including this one, the first pictures were Maxis-made.

From here on, the pictures are mine. This is Sentinel Apartments, with the ground floor being rented by Vivian, and the Rileys living on the next floor up. The building is child-friendly with a good playground; shops, school etc. are nearby.

Clockwise from the top left corner, we see a bedroom with a baby crib, a small toilet and shower, a second bedroom (currently unoccupied), a generous living/dining area and kitchen, a small "home gym" and a tiny patio. The dining table is pushed into a corner and only has two chairs - not very practical if Vivian wants to have guests for a meal. 

Vivian's full bio reads: "When Vivian’s husband died in the line of duty she thought she’d never love again. So when she met Timothy she was surprised how easy it was to want to get to know him. She’s impressed with what a good father he is to Sally and she hopes he and Etsu will find a similar bond." She currently works as an Intern, but since she wants to become Captain Hero (typical for a Family Sim like her), she needs to switch careers. 
Money is of no immediate concern; there is a healthy balance of over 16,000 Simoleons on Vivian's account. 
About Etsu, Maxis says: "Etsu is busy doing what toddlers do best, playing. Snuggles, tickles, kisses and a few kind words from Mom and this toddler is as happy as can be. She loves getting attention from her friend Sally!" She has not learned any of her toddler skills yet, but interestingly already shows one cooking skill point - I wonder how she got that!

Sally drops in on this Monday morning - shouldn't she be at school? 

Timothy appears soon after his daughter. Vivian's wish is to flirt, and so I have her do just that. Pink hearts and two bolts :-)

Outside, I detect Christian Love; I he is one of the NPC tenants here, renting the top floor. 

Vivian and Sally having vegetable soup together feels pretty much like a family already. 

By early Tuesday morning, Etsu has mastered the art of talking.

Both she and her Mum spend most of the morning fast asleep. By the time Sally returns from school and is joined on the playground by her Dad, Vivian is busy giving Etsu a bath and food, and getting ready for work herself - she has found a job as a Security Guard and will start working the night shift.

Just as her friend Carlos Contender appears, she has to leave for work. Sorry, Carlos! 

Of course, she has not left little Etsu all by herself. A Nanny has been hired, but so far, she is not showing much interest in her young charge.

She does not even stop Etsu from crawling outdoors to splash around in a puddle! Maybe Vivian should have made sure to give the nanny a generous tip before leaving. 

Finally, the nanny puts Etsu to bed - not before the little girl has wet herself, since she has not yet learned to use the potty without help. 

Good job Etsu's toddler days are over on Wednesday morning - and just after her mother has finally managed to teach her to walk and to use her potty! Poor Vivian has not even had time to pay yesterday's bills, let alone acquire the necessary body skill to advance in her career. 

Of course, the services of a nanny are still needed, and today Vivian does not fail to give Nerissa Bendett a generous tip, hoping she will do some housework while she's here. 

Sally comes visiting and is delighted to find her little friend now old enough to play in the playground with her and go to school together. 

Nerissa does indeed put in a little more effort after Vivian's generous tip. 

When Vivian returns from work at 2:00 am, she makes sure to take the bills out of the mailbox and pay them straight away - working in Law Enforcement, she certainly is not keen on a visit from the Repo Man simply because of her being so busy.

She then goes to bed and is understandably still asleep by the time Etsu gets up and has a bag of cookies for breakfast.

She then boldly boards the school bus first, with her best friend Sally following behind. 

Vivian wakes up to a quiet, empty apartment. After she's had a shower, she goes upstairs, and I have her ask Timothy to come out. I then lean back and watch what happens. Without much ado, the two of them hug and kiss. Then, Vivian goes back downstairs - time to work on that body skill she needs if she ever wants to be promoted.

When Etsu returns from school, her Mum first plays "Red Hands" with her to bring her fun up and then helps her with her very first homework. Vivian has also been busy getting rid of Etsu's baby crib and potty - a desk is set up where the crib used to be. 

Etsu meets and greets Marcus Baldwin.

She has just enough time to meet and greet Marissa Cleveland before the car pool for work arrives.

Returning from her night shift on Friday morning, Vivian is promoted to Cadet. That means she only has a few hours to catch some sleep. 

As before, Etsu gets up on her own. She spots Timothy outside and spends time with him before the school bus arrives.

Vivian nearly overslept and reaches her car pool for work just in time, with the school bus impatiently waiting behind.

It is nice for the two Chos that Vivian's work now finishes at the same time as Etsu's school, and they can have a proper meal together before Etsu goes to do her homework. 

Vivian has homework of her own: She needs another body skill point, and her small home gym comes in handy.

Not much happens on Saturday - at least not what I had in mind. 

It being a day off work for Vivian, and of course no school for Etsu, I wanted the four of them to go to the park to enjoy the beautiful autumn sunshine and meet some neighbours. But it was not to be. Every time I sent them all to a taxi, Vivian said "I can't bring myself to leave the little ones at home alone" (or something like that), in spite of both girls being part of her "casual group". It was quite annoying, but I gave up in the end and had them just spend time together at Vivian's flat. 

Here are Sally and her Dad upstairs in the Rileys' apartment, by the way. 

Etsu happily sits down for breakfast with her Mum on Sunday morning. Vivian has to work today, but she does not have to leave too early to see her daughter.

The Nanny appears on time, but seems way more interested in making fun of Christian Love than in looking after Etsu.

The little girl knocks at the door to the upstairs apartment to ask her friend Sally to come out to play. 

The girls have a lot of fun on the playground.

The Nanny now makes a point of watching Etsu, as she should.

Etsu loves the play tower!

"I think I can see Mummy's car pool coming!"

She climbs down from the tower, just in time to greet neighbour Samantha Cordial... 

...as well as her Mum, who brings along a colleague: Jason Cleveland, whose wife Marissa she met earlier this week.

One of Vivian's wishes was to fall in love, and since she already has a crush on Timothy, he is her obvious choice. One kiss later, the two of them are in love true and proper. 

After Etsu has gone to bed and Vivian has changed out of her uniform and had a shower, she and Samantha spend the rest of the evening talking, something Vivian has really been missing during the busy times when her daughter was a toddler, and with her demanding job. 

This was a good week. I have not yet changed much in the flat, except for the placement of the dining table and a better bed and fridge; the Chos and the Rileys are most likely going to move in together, but it remains to be seen whether they shall stay at one of their apartments or find a new place altogether. 

Christian Love as one of the NPC tenants here keeps getting into arguments, as does the landlord. Maybe that explains why he never threw his customary party for all tenants on Saturday. I still think Vivian's inability to visit a community lot with her whole "group" is a bug; we all know that apartment lots are prone to bugs more than regular residential lots. Still, I had fun!