Fall 2012 - Huffington

Heather (35), Lance (8), Jimmy London (32)

Finances were tough for Heather.  She had been struggling to get by as a single mom with only child support payments and her small salary from her minimum wage job.  Now that the hood was collecting loan re-payments, and the value of her lot was very high, she was in over her head. 

She did have a few options.  Her first thought was to get a roommate.  Her lot was actually designed as a commercial building.  She and Lance only occupied the first floor of the building.  The entire upper floors were completely vacant.  She talked with Jimmy about possibly renting the upstairs and he readily agreed to the suggestion.  But most of his funds were tied up in his newest business venture and he didn't have much cash to help out at the moment.

After considering her options, Heather decided the best thing to do was to move.  There was a small, two bedroom house that had been vacant for a few years.  The house was cute.

And once she decorated it to her liking, it was a much better fit for her and her son.  After purchasing some modest, but stylish furnishings, Heather had plenty of money to repay the money she owed the hood and the hood was glad to buy her old home and renovate it for a community administration building.

Lance was at the age where he had lots of questions.

"I thought Mr. Jimmy was going to live with us."

"No, he was going to move into the upstairs of our house if we hadn't moved."

"Will he still come over to see us?"

"Of course he would.  He's still our friend."

"Are you and my dad friends again?"

"We're trying to be.  I hope we will be again."

Jimmy did still come around to visit.  One day he came with an interesting proposal for Heather.

He and his brother Frank had recently gotten together and purchased the local mall.  For years it had housed a small clothing shop and lots of vacant space.  The brothers had both shared a love of cooking.  Frank was a professional chef, just like their father had been.  They were using the part of the vacant space to start a diner.  And the rest of the space would be perfect for a salon, and they needed a stylist, if Heather was interested.

She was thrilled.  To work in an actual salon without worrying about running the business from home would be great.  It had to be better than working at a golf course or gas station, late hours.  The hours would be more flexible so she could be at home with Lance in the evenings.

Lance was starting to take an interest in new hobbies.  He signed up for music classes at school and started practicing the violin.  Gareth offered to stop in and give him lessons, if he was interested. Although the violin was not his instrument, he could offer his general knowledge about music.

One day on his way over for a visit, Gareth saw Lance collapse while playing a game of tag with Elsa Straight after school.  He called out for Heather, who immediately ran over to their sons' side.

She knew he'd been ill from food poisoning, since that careless nanny had served him rotten jello.  Maybe she hadn't been as worried as she should have been since it was just food poisoning, but time had passed and he still hadn't gotten better.  As they rushed Lance to the hospital, she prayed that her baby boy would survive.

With treatment and some time resting in the hospital, Dr. First assured her that Lance would make a full recovery.

I installed a "realistic sickness" mod which I may have to get rid of since I've had so many sims not recover and die from it. 

ROS - Lance takes up a new hobby (carried over from the last round, since I forgot about it.)
ROS - Reunited with a friend/family member/ lost love - Jimmy London (this also goes with Joy's wedding too.  He's not really a playable character, so it's hard to know where to fit this in)

Summer 2012 - London-Carlson Wedding

Bruce Lillard (62), Joy London (23), Bridget and Bryce Ebadi (7)

Since Uncle Bruce insisted that Joy not put off her wedding for his or the children's sakes, Joy decided to start making plans.  She invited Felicity over for lunch and a day of shopping.  As a nice gesture, she decided to invite Bridget along too.

Bridget was delighted to be included with the big girls' day out.

She gloated about it to Bryce as they left, but he didn't mind.  He'd much rather stay home and play with the puppy than go on a boring, girly shopping trip.

Their first stop was the mall where they looked for dresses to wear to the wedding.

"Wow, Joy!  Look at you, sissy.  You are going to be a beautiful bride!"

After trying on one dress, Bridget was getting bored with shopping.

She spotted her best friend, Kendra, outside running errands with her mom and asked Joy if it was alright if she went outside to talk with her instead.

While Felicity waited on Joy in the dressing room, she noticed a strange man come up and give Bridget a friendly hug.

"Uh, Bridget, honey . . . do you know him?"

"I'm giving out free hugs today.  Would you like one?"

"Uh, no thanks.  I think you'd better go on your way."

After shopping, the girls went out for a nice lunch.

"This looks like a really nice place," Bridget remarked.  "I think I'll order the lobster."

"Lobster? Are you sure you like lobster?" Joy asked. "Maybe you should choose something a little safer . . . and less expensive," she added under her breath.  "Hey, look they have mac n cheese."

Joy was relieved that Bridget decided to go with the mac n cheese.

Felicity was appalled by Joy and Bridget's table manners.  "Hey, watch out!  You're getting your crumbs in my spaghetti.  Gross."

"Joy, I can't believe you're really getting married.  It's hard to believe we're old enough for that already.  It's like you're really a grown-up now."

"Watch out, you'll be next."

"Maybe," Felicity said, twirling the strands of spaghetti on her fork.

"When you were my age, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Bridget asked.

"I don't know.  I think I always wanted to be famous, like as an actress or a model, or maybe a politician."

"You did always want to be in the limelight," Felicity agreed.

"Now, you're going to be on TV."

"If everything goes according to plan . . . I really hope it works out with having my own show.  I really want it to be successful.  Maybe even win a few awards."

Felicity stayed over on the night before the wedding, so she could be there bright and early to help get ready.  They had a light, healthy breakfast, before getting their hair and makeup done and getting dressed for the wedding.

Everything was all set up by the time the guests started to arrive.  Joy was disappointed when she woke up in the morning to gray skies and drizzling rain, but luckily they were able to set up a tent, so they could still have their outdoor wedding.

Maybe they were a little anxious for the ceremony.  Not all of the guests were seated when Alon and Joy started exchanging their vows.

They were so glad to have their friends and family present for their big day.

Surrounded by flowers and rose petals in bright autumn colors, it was just what Joy had dreamed of.

And even more importantly she was standing next to the man of her dreams.  She knew they were going to have a happy future together.

Felicity looked over at Chase, seated next to her, and wondered what he was thinking.  She wondered if he regretted not being in Alon's place at the altar.  He'd always said he wasn't the marrying type, so maybe he thought he had dodged a bullet.  If he had any thoughts about the past, he was keeping them to himself.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom cut the cake.

And very daintily fed each other a bite.

Uncle Bruce seemed to have some choice words for their older brother Jimmy about settling down and getting serious about his life. 

Jimmy wasn't interested in hearing it.  He wasn't sure he wanted to settle down with one woman.

"Okay, I'll get off your back," Bruce conceded.  "I am proud of you for following through with your education and completing your degree."

The guests took their cake inside to eat.  Joy noticed Felicity and Davis standing together is awkward silence as she ended up sitting next to Chase.

He offered his congratulations and assured her that anything between them was in the past.  They were just kids when they were fooling around with each other.  Now she was moving on with her life and he promised he'd never try to stand in the way of her happiness.

After cake, Joy's other older brother, Frank, sat down at the piano and played some music for the guests to dance too.

Despite the fact that the rain had started to come down harder, some of the guests insisted on staying outside.  They panicked when a tree in the yard was struck by lightning and caught on fire, but only momentarily.

Once the fire was out, they went back to what they were doing,

playing in the rain.

Meanwhile the bride and groom were inside, sharing their first dance.

They didn't care that they guests were outside playing in the rain,

they were glad for a few intimate moments alone.

As they danced, the party was winding down.  Felicity and Bridget watched some television in the living room before bedtime.

And Bryce had disappeared upstairs hours ago.

He wasn't at a loss of how to amuse himself.

Joy and Alon Carlson will be remaining on this lot.  There's enough room to build a separate little house for the newlyweds, so they can have their own private space, yet remain close to help Uncle Bruce with the children.