Once again I was determined not to let Menuchah stay home all day, so I sent her to the pub where Tyler and Talia were having a relaxing drink and watching Carter play on the floor.
Carter has reached the turbo charged rugrat stage. No wonder they wanted to get him out of the house. Probably trying to tire him out.
Uh oh. I see where you're headed.
Aw. He just wanted mommy to come out of that tiny room and help him practice walking.
Who's a good boy? Who likes to be tickled?
I found a book in Menuchah's inventory that I don't remember seeing before. I was fairly sure that, last time, I deleted all books from her inventory and put only gardening skill books there. Maybe she got it out of her bookcase at home. It was worth $2,000. I checked to make sure it wasn't connected to an opportunity, and then sold it. There was also a picnic basket in her inventory that I definitely didn't give her.
After a while, she went home and talked to her apple trees.
Ha, ha! Tell me you weren't just talking to that tree.
They say it makes them grow better.
Oh, mister apple tree! Tell the truth. Don't you think Menuchah's been hitting the sauce a little? Get it? Apple sauce?
Oh, Becky, you nut!
Rachel was conflicted. She was sad from losing a friend - it's been happening ever since the patch and WA - yet all aglow from her first romance. At last. I was so excited for her. I was glad when I saw that it's Max. I kept seeing them talking but their friendship never seemed to get anywhere. I'm just sorry I didn't get to be a fly on the wall when it happened.
She had a $2k book in her inventory, too.
The entire Townsend family was once again at the pub. so I sent Rachel there for breakfast when she got up. As soon as she ate, she got nauseated. We know what THAT means.
While she was puking her guts out, I got the house ready. Decorating for babies is even more fun now that I have all these new gifts!
The radios now play music from the three vacation locations. I found that out when I sent Rachel to the park and she turned on the radio and worked out to ... French music! Boy did that look weird.
Larry Sharma had stayed up til one o'clock trying to teach himself to play guitar, so he slept until noon while Becky worked on her cooking and Sharla amused herself.
Soft!
I just looooove this book!
I wanted to look at what she was reading. It really is a counting book. Only goes up to three, though.
Larry, getting a little frisky, is completely captivated by Becky's sudden shyness.
Rachel called and wanted Becky to come over. I followed to see if Rachel was in her preggers clothes. Good thing she is pregnant, because if I hadn't seen her have morning sickness, we'd have to have a come to Jesus talk about her fashion sense. Actually, the whole time Becky was visiting her, she got bigger by the minute. I started to think pregnancies had been shortened to one day instead of three.
Becky looks so surprised. Gosh, Becky, it took you all day to notice?
It was pretty funny. I'd been so worried about Rachel never talking to anybody, but on this day she wouldn't shut up. Becky kept trying to read and, every time, Rachel stopped her to talk some more.
I see Sharla's going to be one of those (normal) children who drags her toys out of the playroom into the hallway to play with them. Bunny looks scared shitless. I don't blame it. Looks like Sharla's about to take a bite out of it.
Nope. No biting here. Can you say "Aww?"
William is still head over heels about his self-appointed role as nanny. I hardly see him without Freddie in his arms. Unless he's running next door to have a chat with Ronnie. Not that Wyatt is neglecting his fatherly duties. The minute he woke up, even before he peed (and that, to me, is real dedication), he went and got Freddie up and started teaching him to walk.
I made Wyatt go to town and buy a bunch of toddler skill books, and I left them all over the floor so Freddie could read them. I had to stop Lexie from putting them away. I have a feeling that's a losing battle. She'll just wait until my back is turned.
Freddie worked hard, and now it's play time. He prefers blocks and horses.
Wyatt was determined to keep on that treadmill until he was thoroughly fatigued. I'd say he made it.
I know Rachel's already had her turn in the rotation, but I had to pop in on her before another day passed, because I figured she was about ready to deliver. I guess pregnancies still only last 3 days no matter what the lifespan. Max was there, and I'd obviously just missed a tender moment. He was spending the night, but went to sleep on the sofa for some reason. I woke him up and sent him upstairs to sleep with Rachel. It only seemed fair.
And not a moment too soon!
Unfortunately, Max got confused and thought he was supposed to go home. I tried to send him back upstairs but he wouldn't go back into the house because it was too late. Rachel was in far too much distress to get herself to the hospital, so the baby was born right then and there. It was so much cuter than just watching her walk out of the hospital carrying him, because she cuddled him and stood there rocking him in her arms for a minute.
As is my habit in my free will game when I have to name the babies, I used a random name generator. Given his mom's somewhat lofty background, I really liked the sound of Ambrose Thorpe Staple, but I couldn't quash that voice in my head that said, "Are you CRAZY? You WOULDN'T name a poor, defenseless baby Ambrose?" so I settled for my second favorite, Riley. I got to choose his second trait so, mindful of his adventurous mom and his athletic dad, he ended up friendly and disciplined.
Ronnie just painted in his underwear all day long. I didn't mind because he looks so contented.
Max has moved in with Rachel and the baby. I'm so happy that this is happening now in story progression. I knew what to expect from Dee's blog, but I was still holding my breath. It was very bizarre, because it happened before my very eyes. I was in map view, in preparation for switching to Max's house. One second the map tag was there, the next it had gone.
Just as with my other families, when I switched, the baby was lying on the floor. Just as with my other families, both parents raced to get to the baby first. Max won.
The family ghost came out - I heard the music at 11:29 a.m. - and hung around all day! I didn't think ghosts could do that unless they'd been brought back to life like Wyatt Acosta in my other game. Now that he's coming out in the daytime, I guess the family will meet him properly at some point. He'll be very annoying if he's going to keep sleeping in their bed, though.
I saw by Max's relationship panel that he'd had another romantic fling at some point, before he finally got together with Rachel. It's that impudent woman who had moved into Max's house uninvited, with two kids not her own. I was horrified. When I kicked them out of his house back then, I didn't know or care where they went. At some point she came back and moved into Tyler's old house with the kids, making her Max's next door neighbor. She must have had her sights set on him the whole time. I'm going to butt in and get Max safely married off to Rachel instead of waiting to see if the game will do it. Maybe then she'll keep her hands off him.
I have some very sad news to report. Sam and AJ and Stephanie have moved out of town! Now I understand why they were suddenly distant friends with everybody. My sims can still invite them over, but I can no long play them. And I doubt we'll see Stephanie again, because she hadn't been "alive" long enough to make friends with anyone. We'll miss you, Sam and AJ. Sniff.
