Family TraditionsThe next morning, Tabitha carried her son to his first cake, while four proud grandparents cheered.
Apart from his hair, Alex was all GilsCarbo.
Carlotta was delighted to have a toddler around again, especially one who reminded her so strongly of baby Goopy. She started teaching him to walk and talk, while Tabitha and Goopy put on their best clothes and went outside. Sam and Sophia had married quietly at home; Tabitha, hopeless romantic that she was, wanted the first wedding in Monte Vista to be like just the first one in Hidden Springs. (This garden was undeniably grander, of course, but she was prepared to ignore that little detail.)
Riley was up to his old tricks again.
His ability to send gifts through to their universe had entered family folklore. Michael had also had a doll from Uncle Riley although, with Tansy and Bryony as playmates, he hadn’t felt the need for an imaginary friend. He’d given the doll to Bryony before leaving Hidden Springs. Maybe her children would play with it.
Alex named his toy May-May.
He was very fond of the doll and carried it around everywhere, at least until something else distracted him and he left May-May behind. Then he’d realise it was missing and start crying. Looking for the toy became a major occupation for the adults. Tabitha was out on the terrace in search of a missing May-May when the adult sparkles hit.
Goopy was determined to make an early start on his son’s education, so he and Eduardo spent hours in the library, reading picture books with Alex.
One evening, Tabitha found herself at home with nothing to do. All of the available fruit had been turned into nectar, the nursery was tidied, the washing done. She started randomly flicking through channels on the TV.
It was nearly Christmas? Really? Cut off in their little bubble of eternal summer, they had no idea what was going on in the outside world. Alex would be having another birthday soon and children loved Christmas, or so she’d heard. They might not be able to afford the kind of expensive artworks her inner snob would have liked but Christmas decorations and renewing the soft furnishings were well within their budget.
Yes, that was better!
Alex had another birthday.
He grew up into a nervous little character, worried about being accepted at school. Tabitha took him to get a proper big boy’s haircut and he picked out a somewhat conservative wardrobe. Not quite a school uniform but pretty close.
Kindhearted Richard realised that, just because Alex had had a birthday, it didn’t mean anything else had changed. He still loved being read stories.
In fact, he dozed off in Richard’s new bed, leaving his young uncle to spend the night in the nursery.
Typically, Alex forgot about May-May and left the doll sitting on the floor overnight – but when Alex woke next morning, he found that May-May had changed. It – she – was no longer an inanimate doll.
May-May was eager to make friends. She brought Alex food when he was hungry.
Then he had to go to school – but she was waiting when he returned home.
Over tea, he told his father about the strange thing that had happened to his friend and Goopy gave him an unexpected present.
Once his homework was finished, Alex spent the rest of the evening playing tag with May-May.
Laughing and exhausted, they stopped by the pool house.
“May-May? My dad says if you drink this stuff, you’ll turn into a real person like me. Do you want to try it?”
She did.
“Alex! Are you still there? I can’t see you through the bubbles… Ooh, it tickles… Oh!”
And there she was. A real girl.
“Alex? Would you mind if I changed my name a bit? If I’m going to be a real girl, I ought to have a real girl’s name. May-May sounds like a toy. Can I just be May?”
“Of course you can. Come on and meet my family. And then there’s school tomorrow and…”
Next chapter
Alex is named after two other Sims. The first Alexander (who definitely never shortened his name) was another Legacy Sim. I think he was from generation 8, although I tend to get the later generations confused. By that stage, I was confident enough to play larger families and was trying to complete most of the lifetime wishes I had available. Alexander’s mother was a former babysitter called Constance, who was the Surrounded by Family Sim. She ended up with seven kids but was always obsessed by her eldest. Maybe it was because of her inappropriate trait, which certainly seemed to dominate her personality. Edward was her favourite (read: almost only) topic of conversation and she made him late for school on a number of occasions by urging him to work on his skills or giving him hugs. He grew up to be the doctor of the family, which probably made Connie very proud. Alexander and his twin, Nicholas, were her next children. Both were neurotic loners, which probably didn’t endear them to their outgoing mother. Alexander grew up to be almost the perfect author. He wasn’t a bookworm but all of his other traits were suited to a career in writing. He remains my only Sim to max the self-employed writer career. He registered at City Hall as soon as he aged up to teen and wrote the final few paragraphs of his first book immediately afterwards. He eventually reached level ten, with no help from travelling (this was pre-WA), or lifetime rewards other than a steel bladder, in his late eighties. Poor Nicholas became an unlucky loser and was undoubtedly my most unfortunate Sim ever. Several times a day, messages would pop up telling me about his misfortunes at school. He was bullied and accident-prone; even the teachers despised him. I was glad when he grew up to young adult. He had his portrait painted and moved out: the only member of the family not to achieve a lifetime wish. I just felt he'd be safer out of the active household.
Alex is also sort-of named after my very first Sim, Alys Green.
Alys was also a writer. (No prizes for guessing Alex’s major skill.) She was an illustrious author, who specialised in children’s books. Until recently, I’d assumed Alys was long lost but a library save surprisingly turned up when checking through an old hard drive before scrapping it. She was one of the possible back-up founders for this dynasty and I may play her again in something else, because she was one of those lovely Sims who are really easy to look after. Also, I spent ages on her clothes and appearance
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