Woods Family Empire (Chapter 5: Children Grow Up So Quickly!)

[Alexrandia]

Chapter 1: Introducing Liam and Olivia Woods



Olivia was the only daughter of a man who paid so much attention to his reality TV shows that he didn’t even notice when Social Services came to take Olivia away.  She thought she would be stuck bagging groceries for the rest of her days, until she met Liam.



Liam was a very hard-worker. When he wasn’t working his part-time job at the cemetery, he was hunting for collectables to help pay his parents’ bills. His parents loved to party. They would invite several “friends” over and go through bottles and bottles of nectar. And of course, they had to have the latest and greatest stereos and cars to impress their guests. Liam knew their “friends” only showed up because they wanted nectar. Even though all the fancy furniture and accessories got repossessed, Liam felt sorry for his parents, and so helped out as much as he could.

Then one day he went to the grocery store, and beheld the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had wonderful brown curls and eyes that sparkled even more than her wings. He promptly asked her on a date to the local park. The more time they spent together, the more they realized they had in common. They both wanted a large family, and were both sick of being so poor.



“Why don’t we run away?” Olivia suggested one afternoon while they were cuddling on a park bench.

“What do you mean? I can’t leave my parents! They don’t know how to take care of themselves.” Liam frowned.

“Maybe it’s time for them to learn. You shouldn’t spend all your time taking care of your parents, you should be starting your own family.” She went silent.

Liam didn’t say anything for a long time. “You know, I think you’re right. And you know what else? I think I want to start a family with you.”



“Oh, Liam! I thought you’d never ask! I’ve been saving every penny I can. We should leave as soon as possible.” Olivia was beaming. Liam knew she had a gorgeous smile, but he’d never seen so many of her teeth at once.

“I have a bit of a stash myself. Let’s leave tonight. I just need to go home and pack a few things. My parents are going out for the evening, but I can write them a note explaining everything.”

They took an overnight train to Twinbrook. Within a few days, they had a small house built.



It wasn’t much yet, but they were just starting out.





Olivia had decided to join the culinary career, and insisted on getting some nice kitchen appliances to help her learn cooking.



Liam, in turn, insisted on having a nice bed so that he would be well-rested each morning before he went off to his business career.

The bed served another purpose, too. Their first day in the new house, chimes were heard. Good thing Olivia had purchased a crib in anticipation.


Woods Empire Founders:

Liam Woods
Traits: Ambitious, Born Salesman, Family-Oriented, Gatherer and Loves the Outdoors
LTW: Swimming in Cash

Olivia Woods
Traits: Ambitious, Family-Oriented, Great Kisser, Natural Cook and Nurturing
LTW: Surrounded by Family

This story is based on my Family Empire Project. The rules can be found here.

[Louise56]

Good luck to the family! Great start.

[Alexrandia]

Good luck to the family! Great start.

Thanks Louise! It's my first story, so hopefully things will improve. Especially the screenshots. All of these are straight from the game, but I want to try cropping some for the next chapter.

[RaiaDraconis]

I like this project concept and I look forward to reading your story!

There is a thread on taking better screenshots, found here: http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,2126.0.html . Best of luck with the project!

[Blayzen]

Liam knew she had a gorgeous smile, but he’d never seen so many of her teeth at once.

I don't know why but this line just cracked me up!! 

Great start, Alex! I can't wait to find out what happens next! With both of your Sims having the Family-Oriented Trait, I would think that I have lots of adorable Faeboos to look forward to!

[Alexrandia]

Thanks Raia! That's a very helpful thread! A lot of the pictures from this next update were taken before I saw your post, but I'm working on my technique.

Blayzen, I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I didn't even think of that line until the last minute.

[Alexrandia]

Chapter 2: Welcome Nooboo

The next day, Olivia visited the Summer Festival while Liam was at work. She decided to enter the hotdog eating contest.



Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. Olivia thought at first her nausea was caused by eating too many hotdogs, but when she thought about it, she realized that she’d been feeling a little bit sick before she got to the park. That could only mean one thing - she was pregnant! She called Liam right away to tell him the good news, even though he was at work.



She spent her pregnancy relaxing in the library, reading about cooking.



Liam took the gems he had hunted down to the Elixir Shop to cut and sell them, so he would have enough money to buy some toys for the coming nooboo.

Sooner than seemed possible, Alton Woods was born. He was a very friendly baby, and was excited by everything he saw.



He inherited his father’s dark hair, and his mother’s ears and wings.





Olivia spent time teaching Alton his early life skills, while Liam continued to go to work. His hard work had paid off, and he was now a filing clerk instead of just a coffee courier.





Before they knew it, Alton’s birthday had come!

After seeing his father’s werewolf-style eating habits, Alton decided he definitely wanted to be a vegetarian.



He also decided to be a smart dresser, and would wear his favorite spice brown vest as often as possible.

[Louise56]

Alton is such a cute kid! Great update.

[Blayzen]

Alton is such a cute kid!

I couldn't agree more! He is one of those kids that hit the genetic jackpot - a perfect mix of both parents. Then again, I might be a *tiny* bit biased because of his wings! After all, I am a fan of all things Fairy...  Great update, Alex!!

[Alexrandia]

Chapter 3: Fall

The family spent the early days of fall enjoying the simple things in life.



Olivia worked on her handiness by upgrading the shower to self-cleaning....



....or not.



Olivia loved reading Alton to sleep.



Liam stopped by the elixir shop on his way to work.



Alton worried about whether his muffins would be tasty.



Liam and Olivia found a quiet evening to enjoy the outdoors.




Olivia loved dancing, and used it as a way to relax after work.




Liam invited his friend Kenny over and told a ghost story. Olivia really got scared!




Olivia spent a morning carving pumpkins to decorate the house for their upcoming feast party.



The feast party was a success! Everyone enjoyed socializing.




After the party, Alton went trick-or-treating. His flying added a bit of realism to his superhero costume.



On his way home from trick-or-treating, Alton stopped to get his face painted, and then had some feast party leftovers with his mom.



After dinner, Liam helped Alton with his homework.



Liam seemed to have had an epiphany!

“Good night, Alton.” Liam said, giving his son a bear-hug (or, more accurately, a wolf-hug). “I need to talk to your mother.”

[simfulicious]

Wonderful story so far...and awesome project idea. I just started my attempt at it too, in Monte Vista.

[Alexrandia]

Thanks for the compliments Blayzen and simfulicious! And I completely understand about the fairies. The first thing I decided on when I started this story was that at least one of my founders had to be a fairy.

Discerning readers may have noticed that Olivia and Liam look a little different. I don't normally zoom in so much on my sims, and so I don't always put too much attention into their looks. Since I'll be taking a lot of pictures of these two, I decided I needed to make them look better. This kind of thing is one of the reasons I designed this project to allow most cheats.

Edit: And simfulicious, if you decide to write a story about it, let me know so I can read it!

[Alexrandia]

Sorry for the delay, everyone. Life in Dimension H has been pretty busy with the holidays coming up and all. Also, I know where the project needs to go next, but I haven't decided what I want to do as far as the story side of things.

[RainBeau]

Just discovered this project and I am already planning out my attempt! I like yours very much so far. It will be nice to play something where I can use cheats now and then. I like the concept.

[Alexrandia]

Chapter 4: A Discussion

”Olivia, I need to talk to you. Let’s go sit on the couch.”



“Okay, what did you want to talk about honey?” asked Olivia.
“Well, I know you’ve been wanting another child soon.”



“Oh yes! That’s a wonderful idea!”
“Well, the thing is.....I don’t know that we’re ready. I mean, I think we should make sure Alton succeeds before we try again. It’s not like we’ve done this before.”



“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Olivia said, crestfallen.



“I did some research on my grandparents. Seems they were actually quite wealthy. When they died, they left their money to my father. As we are both aware, he clearly didn’t know how to manage it.”
“Where are you going with this?” Olivia asked.
“My theory is that my grandparents gave my father everything he wanted, without asking anything in return. I know we both love Alton and want him to be happy. What I don’t want is for him to be spoiled like my father.”



Olivia looked thoughtful. “So how do we prevent that from happening?”
“I want Alton, and all our future children, to have a share of our family business. I want to build a family empire, so to speak. But I also want our children to have a good work ethic, so our grandchildren won’t have to grow up like you and I did.”
“That sounds like a wonderful plan, my love.”



“Are you sure, Olivia? I don’t want you to agree to something just because I suggested it.”
“Oh, Liam! You and Alton are so important to me. I’m so glad you care about our family as much as I do. I agree with you. We should work to build our family up, and make sure our children are strong.”



“I know we can do this.” Olivia said resolutely.



“I’m glad we had this talk, my dear,” Liam said, “And I’m glad we have a plan for our children. However, I think it’s time for bed,”.



“Are you too tired to practice for a little while?” Olivia raised her eyebrows.
Liam was momentarily confused. Then he understood her implication. He grinned.


Thanks for the compliments ombradellarosa! As I said to simfulicious, if you decide to write a story about it, please let me know. I would love to see how other people interpret my project. I don't use cheats often, but I like having the option open. Another thing I purposefully put into this project was to make sure one could never fail the project. It always makes me sad to see an Immortal Dynasty story just stop because someone missed one of the requirements.