Greythorn Lifetime Wish Project - Generation 3, Part 19: Snow Day, Pt. 2

[VioletG]

Thanks so much you guys! I'm having a lot of fun writing it!

An Engagement

One morning at work, Amanda received a message from the precinct asking her to come in for a meeting with her lieutenant. She ran to public bathroom and tried her best to groom herself and calm her nerves. She had never had a meeting with a higher up before, except for interviews and training. Had she done something wrong?

Her mind immediately went to Curtis and her heart sank. Of course she had done something wrong. She prepared herself for the worst.

"Well, Miss Greythorn, I have some interesting news for you." The lieutenant gestured to a chair opposite his desk. "Please, take a seat."

She sat, staying at attention and trying her best to appear alert and professional.

"It seems," said the lieutenant, "that some of the information provided by your contact in the steroids case has led to a break in the case. The investigators now have a solid lead and as long as it pans out like we think it will, we expect to be making some arrests within the next week."

"That's fantastic, sir!"

"It is. This is a really big case for us and it's rare that the information from a contact can make such a big difference. I have to congratulate you."

"Oh well ... I mean, I only did my job. It was just luck that the information was so important."

"Never think that way, my dear. You shouldn't sell yourself short if you want to advance in this career. It takes talent to cultivate a contact in the right way. If you don't communicate with your contact effectively so that they understand what they're looking for, important information can be missed, and it often is. You clearly established a good rapport with your contact and trained him expertly in the kind of information needed. Which brings me to my next subject."

Flushed with pride and reveling in the praise, Amanda was caught off guard by what came next.

"It's no wonder you had such a rapport with this contact, since sources show you have been engaging in some ... extracurricular activities with said contact."

Amanda's heart sank. "Sir ... I .. I understand that was wrong." She couldn't keep the tears out of her voice. "I am prepared to hand in my resignation for this breach of professional conduct."

The lieutenant laughed. "Miss Greythorn, if we let go every liaison that got a little too close to a contact we would have no one left to work for the department. There is a punishment that comes with breaking the rules in this manner, but essentially your pay will be docked 100 simoleons a week for the next 4 weeks as a fine and you will have to attend some extra training in maintaining appropriate relationships while in the line of duty."

She breathed a sigh of relief. That was doable.

"In addition, I am promoting you."

"Wait ... what?"

"That's right. Your help in this case was invaluable and you've been an exemplary employee so far. I think you are ready to move to the next level. It's not much ... the next level is basically a desk jockey, filling out paperwork, compiling reports, crunching numbers and analyzing data, but it IS the next level. You will also be assigned a partner. You won't really need a partner at this stage of your career, but we like to introduce partners early on so they can build up a rapport and get to know each other before they have to hit the streets. For now, your first task is to get situated in your new desk and start on your first round of paperwork, which is the forms required for your new position"

"Yes, sir!" Amanda followed a junior officer to a desk and got to work immediately.



When she got home that night, she called Curtis and invited him over. She broke all the news to him and he was so excited he swept her up in his arms and swung her around. They collapsed, laughing onto the couch and Amanda snuggled into his arms.



"Well, darlin'," he said, kissing her gently on the top of her head, "Does this mean that we're for real now? No more secret rendezvous? Will I get to meet the folks?"

She looked into his eyes. "We can definitely stop being secret now. The only thing left is to figure out what it is we really want from each other."

"Well, kid, I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy. My wants are very simple. I want to court you ... to be your boyfriend, I guess. And if all goes well, I hope I'm looking at my future bride. But all things in their time. Miss Amanda Greythorn, will you accept this humble fellow as your beau?"

Agh, who could resist him? No one else spoke to her like that. She blushed and nodded, smiling up at him. "I don't know how old-fashioned you are, so it may be too forward of me to ask this, but I was wondering if you'd like to stay and have dinner with my cousins and I, and maybe even ... stay the night?"

He gulped. "I may be old-fashioned, but I'm not crazy. I could never refuse a request like that from such a beautiful woman who is also my official and no-longer-secret girlfriend. And I promise to be a perfect gentleman."

She laughed and took him by the hand to formally introduce him to Rooney and L4z3r. She hoped he wouldn't be too much of a gentleman ...



With the money he had earned the other day, Rooney had gone grocery shopping and stocked up the kitchen with food for the household. He was determined to improve his cooking, so he practiced by making dinner for everyone in honor of their guest. He made some goopy carbonara and he had picked out some nice nectar to match. It wasn't the fanciest dinner, but everyone agreed it was pretty good.



After dinner, Amanda and Curtis went up to her room and she trained him on her exercise equipment. He had a sudden interest in getting into better shape because he had a sinking feeling his team was going to be trading him away soon. Nothing stayed hidden in Sunset Valley for long and it was only a matter of time before management found out he was the one who had busted them. He could only hope that one of the honest teams would be willing to take him.



As everyone else retired to the upstairs of the house, L4z3r curled up by the fire with the Symphony handbook. His new employer had sent it to him, asking him to be familiarized with all the information in it before he started work. He could have waited, since it was Friday night, but he had big plans for Saturday and his new job started on Sunday, so there really wasn't as much time to spare as it seemed. Since he didn't sleep anyway, now was as good a time as any to get this done.



Up in Amanda's bedroom, the training had progressed to a totally different form of exercise ...

Saturday

L4z3r spent the last part of the night just pacing around the downstairs area. He couldn't seem to relax and kept jumping at every little creak and shadow. When the sun rose, he made a pot of coffee and prepared pancakes for everyone. His cousins soon filtered groggily down the stairs, drawn by the breakfast smells wafting upstairs. Curtis followed along with a huge sleepy grin on his face.

When everyone was eating, L4z3r took his coffee out on the porch and dialed Toni's number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's L4z3r ..."

"I can recognize your voice, silly!"

"Oh ... haha, of course ... anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to meet me in the park near our houses today. It's supposed to be a sunny day and the trees are all in blossom. I thought it would be a nice day to be outside."

"Yeah, sounds great! I'll meet you there."

He dressed casually so as not to give anything away, then slipped out of the house to the small park nearby. It was much less crowded than the central park with maybe only a couple of old men playing chess to interrupt his privacy. Perfect for his purposes. When Toni arrived, he walked her over to a small pond and they stood for a while, holding hands and watching tiny blossoms fall and float on the water's smooth surface.

L4z3r turned to Toni and looked into her eyes for a moment. He gave her a soft kiss, then ...



... went down on one knee. Toni just stared at him, stunned.

"Toni, I know we have only been dating for a short while, but it has taken me almost no time at all to understand that you're the perfect woman for me. Now that I am working full time, I believe I am ready to think about settling down. Now, I don't want to rush you. What I am asking today, I am asking for the future. If you answer yes, we don't have to do anything right away ... it's just a promise between the two of us, to be fulfilled when we are ready. Toni Heaton, will you marry me?"

Toni covered her mouth, tears overflowing in her eyes. Then ... "Yes! Yes, L4z3r, I will marry you. Any time you want me, I am ready. Yes!"

The two of them stayed lost in each other for the next hour or so, in their own private world of hopes and dreams and plans for the future.

On the other side of town, Amanda had made a date to get to know her new partner, Blair Wainwright. When she had called, Blair had expressed excitement about their new partnership and was eager to get started with getting acquainted, so they decided to meet up in the park right away and hang out at the Summer Festival together.

"It's great to meet you finally," Blair gushed when they had met and introduced themselves. "I actually met your brother pretty recently ... he seems like a pretty nice guy."

"Oh man, I'm sorry about him," Amanda cringed, "He's a terrible flirt. I hope he didn't bother you too much."

"Flirt?" Blair looked ... a little disappointed. "He didn't really flirt with me, he was basically just friendly. We talked about you, mostly."

Amanda was floored. She hadn't really seen her brother interact with a woman without flirting. She became thoughtful. Maybe he really was changing ...

"Hey," Blair cut into her revery, "Want to go practice our "skills" on the water balloon arena?"

Amanda laughed, "Heh, yeah, I guess if you really squint your eyes and turn your head sideways or something it does resemble something somewhat close to what a police officer might do in some situations."



The two girls squared off and spent a fun afternoon playing water balloons and hanging out. By the end of the day they were fast friends and each was sure the other would make an excellent partner.

Sunday

On Sunday, L4z3r had to come back down from his cloud to get to his first day of work. He spent the first few hours with a stagehand going over everything in the auditorium and backstage, then an hour with the stage manager getting a briefing on all of the musicians, as well as a schedule for the next few days and an overview of his tasks. Then she sent him off to get something for their guest soprano that evening, Bella Bachelor.

"She needs to have hot water with fresh lemon and honey. Run to the diner and tell them Bella is performing tonight and you need her usual. They'll give you everything you need. When you get back I'll show you how to set it up."



When he got to the diner he saw none other than Bella herself strolling out the door. He figured that was a pretty good taste of his life to come. She could have gotten the hot water herself while she was there, but that wouldn't have made her feel like a special star. Instead, he had to go to the same diner, pick it up himself, take it back to the theater and set it all up. Oh well, this was what he had signed up for, and if he had anything to say about it, he wouldn't be an errand boy for long.

[LivvieLove]

Aw! I'm so happy for L4s3r! He's pretty awesome, and I can't wait to see more alien-boos!
Poor Amanda, getting reprimanded is still pretty harsh, even when she does get a promotion afterwards.
As for Rooney, I'm proud of him! He's really coming a long way! Still got a bit to go though.

[cainspath]

He gulped. "I may be old-fashioned, but I'm not crazy. I could never refuse a request like that from such a beautiful woman who is also my official and no-longer-secret girlfriend. And I promise to be a perfect gentleman."

Totally made me smile. I love Curtis!

I'm having a problem with aliens, they don't seem to like my sims so much. 

[VioletG]

Totally made me smile. I love Curtis!

I'm having a problem with aliens, they don't seem to like my sims so much. 

Oh no ... the aliens are such a random element. They seem to love my sims a little too much :-/

As for Rooney, I'm proud of him! He's really coming a long way! Still got a bit to go though.

I am proud of Rooney too, but I don't know how far he will go, heh. He is a very random sim who always wants to do something different. I think he has sim ADHD!

[VioletG]

Generation 3, Part 5: Double Happiness

Rooney quickly discovered that tomb raiding wasn't going to provide him with a steady income. The diamond find had been very lucky, but the next two trips resulted only in a couple of seeds and a book. He planted the seeds anyway, knowing that he could sell produce to the local grocer and started his first little garden.



That still wasn't going to be enough though, he really had to find something that would bring in a steady income. But first, he might as well read this book he had found.



The book was called "Game of Thorns" and it was a long, epic fantasy full of plot twists and turns, about a kingdom of rabbits that lived within a vast thicket and engaged in wars and political struggles for the right to rule the thicket. Rooney was hooked. He couldn't believe he could get so sucked into a book about rabbits, but the way it was written was addicting. There were so many shocking events, unforeseen betrayals and unexpected deaths that he couldn't put the book down.

When he finally finished, he was inspired. His father had been a journalist, he could write too, he was sure of it. The only way to really find out was to try.



He sat down and the computer and began. He knew he couldn't write something like "Game of Thorns" right away. He would have to start smaller. He also wasn't sure that fantasy was really his genre. He was more comfortable with sci-fi, so he started there. He pretty much locked himself in the house and wrote and wrote until he had compiled a collection of short stories. He then sent them around to several small indie publishers and one of them accepted! He was a published author! Not only that, but he had several weeks of guaranteed income in royalties. He breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't getting kicked out of this house yet!

********************************



L4z3r seemed to get promoted almost as soon as he started his job. One of the stagehands quit not long after he began and Abraham Bakshi, who was in charge of the crew, had been very impressed with the way L4z3r had learned all he could about the backstage process even though he was only a gofer. He also was amazed at how quickly L4z3r had picked everything up. Abraham knew the symphony could get pretty much anyone to be an assistant, but to fill the stagehand position they would need someone really reliable. He offered L4z3r the job on the spot.

L4z3r was thrilled. Every step up the ladder was a step toward his dream. And a step towards being able to start a family with Toni. That night, while everyone else was sleeping, he studied all of the theater handbooks, trying to learn everything he needed to know about his new job.



The next night he invited Toni over to his house. If they were going to get married, he couldn't just keep asking her out on dates, they also had to hang out and just do normal stuff. When she was over, they had such a great time, just hanging out, playing video games and having a casual dinner. Then as it got late, he wasn't really thinking and he said, "hey, why don't you spend the night?"

She smiled at first, then she looked around in puzzlement. "But ... where would I sleep?"

L4z3r facepalmed himself. "I am such an idiot!" Since he never slept, he had never bothered to put a bed in his room. There was the couch ... no way, he couldn't ask someone like Toni to crash on his couch.

"Listen, maybe it won't work out tonight," he said, "but the next time you come over, this room is going to be all set up to be nice for you. In fact, Toni ... the next time you come over, why don't you just stay? For good?"

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing."

"But ... we're not married yet."

"I know, but come on ... that might be how our parents did things but it's different now. Don't you think we should live together first? Especially because ... I'm different, you know. I don't sleep. At all. What if you decide it's very important to you to have your partner sleep next to you all night? I think we should try this ... just to make sure."

"Oh silly, I AM sure that I don't want to be with anyone else but you. But I agree. It makes sense to live together first and sort of learn how to live together before we are married, so that after we are married, we can just enjoy each other for a while."

"It's a plan then, love. I can't wait."

Toni left then, but a knock on his door in the wee hours of the morning found her back at the Greythorn house, shaking and in tears. L4z3r pulled her in out of the rain, holding her close to him for a moment, then getting her wrapped up in a blanket and sat in front of the fire.

"Toni, what's wrong? What happened?"

"It's ... it was Erich. He was waiting for me when I got home. He'd been out drinking and he ... he threatened me. He called me all kinds of names and said I had to get back with him. He said if I didn't, he'd have you "taken care of." Then he tried to drag me into his car. He was holding my arm so tight ..." Toni rolled back the blanket to reveal dark bruises on her arm. "Thank god for my parents' dog, Trixie. She started barking and I got away. I guess I could have just run back into the house, but all I could think about was getting back to you. I ran all the way back here instead."

L4z3r was so mad he jumped up and paced furiously. He knew there was nothing he could do about it right now. He had to think about Toni first. Erich could wait. He made her a makeshift bed on the living couch, near the fire and stayed near her as she slept, reading a book and dreaming of revenge.



The next morning, Toni went home to assure her parents she was all right and L4z3r started on his new fitness plan. He could tell it wouldn't be long before he and Toni set a date for their wedding, and he wanted to be in shape. This morning he started his new jogging program. His route took him all the way across town, then up a small side street then up a ... private driveway?



Who should come out of the house but that evil ex himself, Erich? L4z3r wasted no time confronting him. "You leave Toni alone, do you hear me? She's not going back to you ever and nothing you can do can make her."

"Oh yeah? Who are you? You're just a nobody. Do you know who my family is? I've got connections. I can make you disappear. Or I can make you wish you never set foot in this crappy little town."

"Oh is that so? I'd love to see you try."

"Oh really?" Erich sneered, picking up his phone.

That's when L4z3r hit him with a powerful brain blast, draining all his motives and making some adjustments to his memory as well.

"Uggggggghhh," said Erich, "I'm sorry sir, I'm not sure what you're selling but I just can't today. I feel awful and have to get in bed immediately."

"No problem sir," said L4z3r, "I was just here to ask if you happened to know a friend of mine. She lives in this town and I wanted to try to pay her a visit. Her name is Toni."

"Toni? No, sorry guy .... I don't know any Toni. Isn't that a guy's name?"

"Not in this case. Sorry to bother you." And L4z3r walked out of Erich's life ... he hoped for good.

************************************************



Like L4z3r, Amanda and her partner Blair had moved out of their desk-based positions and onto the streets fairly quickly. The department was always in need of junior beat cops to take on the less desirable patrols, so Amanda and Blair were assigned a beat in one of the poorer neighborhoods.

Though it was poor, it wasn't all that dangerous. Petty theft was the biggest crime and there were a few fights, but Amanda mostly spent her shifts cleaning up litter, picking up kids out after curfew and sending truants to school. Most officers would have been bored by this beat, but Amanda and Blair were idealistic young ladies and they really wanted to improve their neighborhood.

They became familiar faces around the block and were strong forces in bringing the community together to do what they could to make the area a cleaner, safer place to be.



It was hard work and she was usually exhausted by the time she got home, sometimes collapsing into bed before she even was able to take her uniform off.

"I'm just gonna close my eyes for a minute ...." she would think, drifting off.

L4z3r began to make a point of checking in on her and carefully taking off her shoes, hat and other accessories before tucking her into bed himself. He and Amanda had always looked out for each other. Just because they were adults now didn't mean he had to stop. Besides, he suspected that pretty soon, there would be someone else around to tuck Amanda in at night.

And he was right.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon while Curtis and Amanda were picnicking in the park, he took her hand and asked her to be his wife, presenting her with a beautiful, yet understated diamond ring that had once belonged to his grandmother.

"Darlin'," he said, "Now that I have you for my own, I don't ever want to let go. Not now and not when we're wrinkled old fogies. I'm just a bumpkin from down south, and you're the smartest, most beautiful creature I've laid eyes on. I'm not even worth the cotton socks you put on your little feet, but will you have me anyway?"

Simultaneously laughing and crying at the odd, but exceedingly sweet proposal, of course Amanda accepted, and there was a second happy couple-to-be in the Greythorn household.




*******************************

That night L4z3r told his cousins about his decision to have Toni move in. They knew that the household would be growing eventually, but it was still a bittersweet moment. The cousins had grown closer than ever since moving in together and now they knew they would getting busier with careers and families (well, except for Rooney, but maybe someday ...) and they wouldn't spend time together like they once had.

L4z3r's room had been a sort of hangout room for them, but now that was going to change. So they spent one last night in there, just all hanging out together, doing what they did.



It wasn't long after that night that the room transformed totally, ready for its new occupant.



And here is a bonus picture of Toni after moving in and getting a makeover.

[LivvieLove]

Aw! Way to go L4s3r! He and Toni are so cute together.
I'm glad Rooney has found a hobby that he likes - and that also pays bills!
Poor Amanda, it sounds like they're working her to death on the job, oh well, but at least she gets a happy ending!
I can't wait to read more!

[cainspath]

It's official- I've become a fan of the Amanda-Curtis love team!

Curious, though. Did Erich really come over by himself? 

[VioletG]

It's official- I've become a fan of the Amanda-Curtis love team!

Curious, though. Did Erich really come over by himself? 

Haha no ... L4z3r kept getting wishes to do mean stuff to him, so I finally just let him. But L's so nice otherwise, I decided to get creative to think of a reason why he would do that.

[VioletG]

Part 6: Complications

The next little while was a lull for the sims for the most part ... furiously working away at raising skills and getting promotions and mentally preparing for weddings.

Not that much went on for Amanda. She spent most of her time working hard and grabbing any little bit of free time, which was spent packing a lot of fun into short segments of time.

She attended the symphony using L4z3r's old season tickets.



She blew off steam in a snowball fight with Rooney.



And, following L4z3r's example, she asked Curtis to move in. Although between her hectic work schedule and him trying to kickstart his career from the beginning again, sometimes the only time they were together was when they snuggled into bed at the end of the day.



**************************************

Rooney had no job and therefore had lots of free time, but he found that his old habits had made leaving the house a pretty complicated proposition. He was getting stir crazy from all the writing and chess practice he had been up to lately, so he went downtown to sell his final harvest from the garden.

No sooner had he stepped out of the cab, than he ran into his old fling, Holly Alto.



She was chatting with another guy and Rooney hesitated, unsure of what was the least rude thing he could do. Should he try to slip by and not disturb her conversation? Should he smile and wave and keep on walking? Stop and say hi? He really hadn't talked to her much since their one night stand. She had called a few times to chat, invited him to some parties and sent him some notes and gifts and then finally had stopped trying to contact him. He didn't know if she would even WANT to talk to him at this point.

So he pretended as hard as he could that he couldn't see her and walked on by, just looking out of the corner of his eye. He thought he caught her give him a glare as he went past, but other than that, nothing happened. Whew.

Outside of the store, who should he run into but Darlene Bunch?



He wasn't afraid to talk to her, they had become pretty good friends since their encounter. They didn't talk much, but they usually had a chat on the phone once a season or so.

"Rooney!" she cried, giving him a quick hug. "I'm so glad I ran into you - I have HUGE news. I'm getting a divorce!"

Rooney just stared at her, jaw dropped. He knew she had been working on her marriage, but he'd thought it was getting better. He started to get kind of nervous. What if she-

"I know what you're thinking, and don't. This has NOTHING to do with you. It's me ... I was so busy trying to figure out what was wrong with ME when it came to my marriage that I overlooked the obvious. It's not me. It's just ... that wasn't the right relationship for me. I've known Malcolm since we were kids and we've always liked each other, so I guess we just grew up expecting to always be together, and I never considered that it wasn't actually the right thing for me."

"Whoa, that really is huge, Dar. Are you ... I mean, is everything okay? Where are you staying?"

"Oh everything's more than fine, Rooney. I've got a place and not only that, but I've already started dating. I've known Miraj since I was a kid too, but I dunno, we never really hung out together. I don't think we had that much in common back then, but now ... he's exactly what I'm looking for."

"Wow, Dar, that's awesome. I'm really happy for you!"

"Aww, thanks. I hope you can find something like this."

"Naw, I don't think that's really in the cards for me. At least not anytime in the near future. But it's cool. We're well on our way to a full house at home so I don't think I'll be lonely much and I've got some pretty cool friends, too." He winked at her.

She laughed. "All right then, same old Rooney. Well, I've gotta take off, but don't be a stranger. Even if you don't get a girlfriend, maybe you can scrounge someone up for a double date sometime."

He scratched his head doubtfully. "I dunno about that, but we'll figure something out. See ya!"

He wasn't in a hurry to head home after the store, so he headed across the street to the park to hang out at the festival for a while.




He did some bobbing for apples along with some pregnant lady, and then in his affable way stopped to chat with her afterward. Her enormous belly was keeping him from misbehaving, but then she started flirting with him. Come on, lady, you are pregnant with someone else's baby!

Not knowing what else to do, he beat a hasty retreat to the safest place he could find ... the haunted house.



********************************

Meanwhile, L4z3r was getting himself involved in some family complications all his own. Ruby called and asked him over because she needed some advice about her daughter. When he got there, she was playing her guitar, looking completely frazzled. L4z3r knew his aunt always escaped into music or painting when she was trying to avoid something that was troubling her.



He gave her a quick bio boost, made her a cup of tea and sat her down to talk away from everyone else. It turned out, her problem had to do with her daughter, Vickie. Vickie had grown into a neat, trim teenager who strongly resembled her mother.



But there was one unfortunate way that she resembled her father. She had a boyfriend for the first time and it was none other than Doyle Ursine, son of Nicholas's old flame and cheating partner, Carrie Ursine. Needless to say, the relationship had caused a LOT of tension among the parents. The kids knew their parents disapproved of the relationship, but didn't know why. It had led to a Romeo and Juliet-type situation where the parents' disapproval just drove the two young people closer together and Ruby was really worried about where it all would lead.

"I'm trying hard to be rational about this. I know that Doyle has nothing to do with what his mother did. But it just brings up such painful memories for all of us."

"Oh man," L4z3r sighed. "That is a tough one, Aunt Ruby. I don't really know what to say ... I think ... well, I think you're just going to have to do your best to put the past in the past. It's not fair to either of those children to punish them for something their parents did."

"You're right ... of course you're right and we all know that, really. But how do we communicate with them? Do you think maybe ... you can have a talk with them? Get them to understand it in a way that doesn't reveal too many painful details?"

"I can give it a try. I think I know of a way to approach it."



Doyle and Vickie were in a corner, finishing their homework when L4z3r approached.

"Hey Vickie, you sure have grown up since I saw you last."

"Yeah, it seems to happen pretty suddenly, even for me. I heard you're getting married. Congrats."

"Thanks! I'm really excited. Listen, your mom wanted me to have a chat with you guys because she said there's been some weirdness about your relationship."

Vickie rolled her eyes and Doyle looked down and started playing with the snaps on his jacket. "Yeah," Vickie answered, "I don't know what the deal is, Doyle is a great guy, but mom and dad just can't seem to see it. And his mom absolutely despises me. She looks like she's going to spit in my face every time I come around."

"Yeah," Doyle said dejectedly, "She keeps saying Vickie's a 'bad influence' on me, even though she's one of the nicest and most together girls in school. There really couldn't be a better influence on me than her."

Awwww ...., L4z3r thought to himself.

"Listen guys, I kind of understand it, but I can't fully explain it to you. It has to do with stuff that happened a long time ago. There's some bad blood between your parents and you guys just remind them of those times. I can't speak for Doyle's mom, but I know that Aunt Ruby and Uncle Nicholas hold nothing against Doyle personally. And they don't really disapprove of your relationship. It's just hard for them to handle the emotions it brings up. Honestly the best way to handle it is to just keep things low key around your parents ... and ... maybe don't hang out so much at Doyle's house. Eventually everyone will get used to it. They'll just have to."

"Whoa, what happened between our parents?!" Doyle exclaimed. Vickie looked pained. L4z3r could guess she'd seen enough growing up that she knew she might not like the answer.

"It's nothing," said L4z3r, "It's just ... they used to be friends and then they had a big fight, that's all."

"Huh. Well ... maybe they could be friends again," offered Doyle.

"No, Doyle, I don't think that's ever going to be possible. They all hurt each other pretty badly at one time. Even if you eventually forgive someone for a fight that bad, it's not the kind of thing you can just forget and go back to being friends, unfortunately.

"Yeah, figured it was a long shot," Doyle kicked at the ground.

"Look, I'll let you guys get back to your homework, but just ... understand that your parents are not against you, so don't go getting any crazy ideas. They love you more than anything, and they'll support you, even if it hurts for a while."

Vickie nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks, L. It was good to see you. You should come over more. And bring Toni! I want to talk to her about her wedding dress." Her eyes grew a little starry and Doyle suddenly looked super nervous. L4z3r laughed. From the look on Doyle's face he wouldn't have to worry about any surprise elopements just yet.

[LivvieLove]

Aw, L4s3r's such a good guy! Toni is certainly a lucky Sim!
Do you plan to let all of the children have children, or are you thinking about letting Rooney fly solo? I'm just curious because I know you mentioned the house tends to get pretty full with 3 Sims + 3 Partners which can't result in 3 children.

[VioletG]

Aw, L4s3r's such a good guy! Toni is certainly a lucky Sim!
Do you plan to let all of the children have children, or are you thinking about letting Rooney fly solo? I'm just curious because I know you mentioned the house tends to get pretty full with 3 Sims + 3 Partners which can't result in 3 children.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Rooney's gonna be flying solo this generation. I mix up the traits between things I choose and random rolls to spice things up and give them personality, and he randomly rolled Commitment Issues as a trait. It fit well with his parents' history so I decided to go with it as part of his story and that means he probably won't be settling down like the other guys. But one of the other couples might end up having two kids. I'm just gonna play it by ear and see what happens, I like to let them have as much free will as I can while still working towards their lifetime wishes. So anything goes until I have a full house.

[VioletG]

Part 7: Wedding!

But before we get to the good stuff, let's check in on Amanda, who is on her way up the career ladder and has been promoted all the way up to Patrol Officer. Her Lieutenant called her in for another meeting.

"Well, Amanda, it's time for you and Blair to start working your first case."

Amanda began to tremble with excitement. This was it ... it was starting to get real.

"Your brother works for the symphony, doesn't he?"

"Yes, sir. He's currently a talent scout for them, procuring new talent and guest artists and conductors." [L4z3r gets promoted so fast due to already being at max skill and having this insane love for working from home, plus not sleeping, I had to stop trying to work his promotions into the story and just mention them whenever they are relevant.]

"Great, then you do have an in. Here's the deal. There's something shady going on at the local theater. High ranking criminals are using it as a meeting point to do deals. We don't know who is arranging it, but someone there is letting them in and getting them into some private space, and our guys have so far not been able to catch anything illegal going on. We tried getting a warrant, but they are always able to disappear, or appear to be simply watching a show, by the time we get in there. We aren't going to catch them in the act, so we need to find out who is actually behind this."

"So ... what do you need me and Blair to do?"

"I need you to get as much useful information as you can from your brother and then work up a list of other people involved with the theater to interview. Then you guys will need to interview everyone and report everything you learn. That's it. If we get usable information, then we'll take it from there."

"Yes, sir!" The Lieutenant dismissed her, and Amanda went to brief Blair on their new case.

*************************************

But she wouldn't be talking to L4z3r just yet, because he was having a very busy day.



First, he took Toni out on an ice skating date. As they glided across the length of the small pond, he took her hand. They smiled at each other.

"Hey, Toni," he said. "I was thinking ... do you want to have our wedding soon? Snowflake Day is coming up, and everyone will have the day off. Seems like a good time for a wedding party. What do you say to a real white wedding?"

Toni grinned. "Let's do it. Something small but nice, just in our backyard. Maybe in that garden area that Rooney set up?"

"Yeah, that will be nice, I think. Just close friends and family. I'll take care of my family/guests and you take care of yours?"

"Sounds like a plan. I so can't wait to be Mrs. L4z3r Greythorn."

"You pretty much already are. But I can't wait to see you in your wedding dress."

And then it just gets pretty mushy from here on out, so let's leave them for a little while and come back later.



On the day before the wedding, the Greythorns decided to do a family gym day, of all things. Other people might do rehearsal dinners or trips to the beauty parlor, but these guys apparently just want to get buff before the big day. Even little old Violet got pumped for this special occasion.

*********************************

L4z3r came home from his gym day and ran straight into Amanda, who told him about her new assignment. He gave her as much info on the theater and the people that worked for it as he could.

"Other than that, I guess you could start with Abraham Bakshi. He's the stage manager and there's not much that goes on in the theater that he doesn't know about. He's also friends with Aunt Ruby's roommate, that Frio guy, and when I was over there I heard them talking about how he's coming to dinner tonight. Maybe you could intercept him there?"

"That's awesome. Thanks, L. I'm gonna get over there now, dinner is probably almost over."

Amanda took her police car and headed over to her aunt's. Traffic just had a way of disappearing when you were driving one of those.



When she arrived, Amanda found that she was in luck. Mr. Bakshi was still at the house and everyone was just hanging out for a while. Amanda chatted with her aunt for a while. Ruby had a lot of complaints about life and particularly her lack of sleep and she also looked like she had dressed herself in the dark, so Amanda sensed a new art piece was in the works.



Eventually, Amanda found an excuse to start talking with Mr. Bakshi. She mentioned her brother casually and that led to Mr. Bakshi revealing that he worked with L4z3r. Well, what a coincidence. She then had to decide how to proceed. As stage manager, it was very possible that Mr. Bakshi himself was the culprit. So she didn't want to let him know what she was really up to.

"Listen," she said. "You know that L4z3r is getting married, and I'm going to have a sister for the first time ever. I want to throw a party for his bride, since we didn't have time to do a bachelorette party and I'm scouting locations. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"

"Sure, sounds like fun. He's a lucky guy, that L4z3r."

"He really is. Anyway, I know there are shows at the theater pretty much every night. Are there any, like, VIP rooms or something like that, where someone could go to hold a private event and still have access to watch the show?"

"Well, we don't have anything dedicated to that function, but the place is a rabbit warren of little rooms. I'm sure something like that could probably be arranged, but it would take talking to the theater management office."

"Oh, could you give me the names of the some of the people in that office? I'd like to talk to them. Also, I'm just curious, you say that like this would be the first time someone used the theater that way. So there aren't really people doing that kind of thing already?"

He shrugged. "Not that I know of. I would expect that theater management would tell me if they are arranging something like that so I could plan around it, and also confirm that the rooms they want are available. We use different rooms all the time in my department, because it really depends on the show, which we will be using."

"Wow, that sounds pretty complicated. Has anyone ever tried to sneak in and use empty rooms? Do you think anyone even could do that without getting caught?"

"Haha, every once in a while some drama kid from the high school will sneak in, but I think the only way someone could do it without getting caught is either to be really lucky or to have someone from the crew telling them where to go."

Interesting. Amanda suspected Mr. Bakshi probably wasn't in on this, or else he would be getting suspicious already. But she now had two departments to narrow things down to. She already had names for theater management, and L4z3r could give her the names of all the crew. She rushed home to complete her first report before bed because tomorrow was the big day!

*****************************************

And now, the main event! Decorations? Check. Guests? Check. A bride and groom? Check. It's a go.




Hold on guys, let's finish the ceremony before you start making out.



"Dearest L4z3r, I promise to love and care for you forever, or until Grim comes, whichever comes first. I will try my best to be a worthy wife to you: I will always be honest with you. I will be patient and kind, but only to a point ... don't push me! I will always be there when you need me and I will always be your best and most loyal friend. I love you!"



Guys, you're not done yet.




"Toni, from the moment I saw you watching me play guitar, you set my soul on fire. You are my inspiration and have made my whole life a kind of neverending song. You bring magic into my life, you make me laugh, and you've taught me how to love. You make me feel safe and cherished and I am free to sing a new kind of song. You amaze me every single day and there's a place for you in my heart forever. I love you, Toni."

Awwww ... yay! Okay, NOW

[cainspath]

I had to go away for some immersion and gee, you sure had fun. They got married in ankle-deep snow, thought I've seen worse. I see nooboos coming!

[LivvieLove]

I love the wedding! Wow, so gorgeous! I hope they'll be very happy together - and have babies, I want to see those alien genes being passed down further! Now what about Amanda and Curtis? Hmm, I hope to see another happy couple with a potential nooboo coming around! Rooney will make a good uncle. I can feel it.

[VioletG]

Yep, nooboos aren't far off. It's practically all Toni will talk about, as you will see in some upcoming updates. I've instituted a few rules for myself, just to keep myself from trying to do everything at once, so that basically I'm waiting until they hit certain goals on the way to their lifetime reward to do other things like get married and have kids. Amanda's wedding is coming up very soon and it should be nice. I just got Generations in the sale so I can do a proper wedding party now! And do more fun stuff with the kids when they arrive.   

Part 7: Afterglow

After the wedding ceremony was over, L4z3r suddenly grew ridiculously nervous. He wasn't neurotic, but he found himself bustling around the house cleaning and fixing things rather than participating in his own party. He was up in the second floor bathroom unclogging a toilet when Toni found him.

"Love," she said, "What are you doing? It's our wedding day, we can just call a repairman for that."

"Oh I know, I know, it's just ... well I don't know what it is but I just got so nervous and jittery all of the sudden. I've been trying to keep myself busy."

Toni smiled and tried not to let a little giggle escape. "It's a big thing we just did, my love. And the wedding night is coming up. That would make anyone nervous. I know I am. Nervous ... and excited too. Everyone's starting to leave ... maybe we should ... retire to the bedroom?"

She looked at him shyly, then moved in for a kiss.



"Why don't you clean up a little? You have just been mucking about in the toilet, after all. I'll be waiting for you in the bed." She smiled again, that shy smile.

"Well, how can I refuse my beautiful bride? I'll be right there."

But when L4z3r started to walk in the room and saw Toni stretched out on the bed, his nervousness returned, big time and he suddenly felt weirdly hungry.

"Um, I just got really hungry," he said. "Curtis made a pie and I think I want to try it out. I'll be right-"

"Oh no you don't. That's just your nervousness talking. I'm the bride and it's my wedding night and I want my groom to be a part of it!"

That snapped him out of it. "Yes, ma'am," he said, making his way to the bed.



"We can just snuggle a little first, then ... then we'll see what happens," she said.

"That sounds good to me," L4z3r said, taking his beautiful bride into his arms. Truthfully, he was so happy he probably could have stayed like that for a long time. But they didn't stay like that.



Fade to black ...

*******************************************

In other house news, Curtis was proving to be an excellent roommate. He paid the bills ....



Cooked ...



And he let Amanda totally redo his wardrobe.



"That's a lot of purple, darlin'"

"But purple looks so good with your coloring! Besides, it's only this formal outfit. All the rest are more neutral dark colors. And men never wear enough colors!"

"All right, only for you darlin'" But secretly Curtis was relieved that he barely ever wore formal outfits.

*****************************

Fade back in on the newlyweds

Toni and L4z3r were basically on Cloud 9 after their first WooHoo together. Yes, their first. They are both quite old-fashioned and so even though they have been living together, they waited until they were married. For real, their first wish to WooHoo popped immediately after getting married. Hee hee.

Toni was high on love and couldn't get to sleep right away, so she stayed in the room composing a song from her brand new perspective on love. L4z3r relaxed on the bed and watched her play, barely able to believe he had snagged such a lovely and talented wife.



Eventually Toni relaxed and snuggled into bed next to her husband, slowly drifting off to sleep. L4z3r stayed for a while, then crept quietly out of the room, knowing the household would be asleep now and not wanting to disturb his wife with his wakefulness. He meant to read a book, but he found that he was still so giddy, he couldn't do much but pace around the room. As he walked back and forth, he noticed, as if for the first time how dark and shabby the room looked. The overstuffed couches were fading and it all just looked so old-fashioned and a little drab.

In his excitement he became extremely impulsive and decided to make over the whole living room. Only in Sim Nation can you make a decision like that in the dead of the night and carry it out within that same night. It felt almost like he was waking from a dream when he finished and they had a brand new living room.



He smiled. It may not be the best living room, but it was much more his style. Brighter, simpler and more elegant. It would do. He hoped Toni liked it.

In the morning, Toni awoke ready to start her life as a wife. Neither of them believed in stereotyped roles for men and women, but they had decided together that L4z3r would continue in his career and she would work from home as an artist. L4z3r didn't mind if she wanted to work but Toni felt strongly that she would prefer to be home when they started to have children and L4z3r agreed that it would be nice to have a stay-at-home parent.

Her first goal was to learn how to cook. Growing up wealthy, she had never learned how to do much housekeeping, but she was determined to learn now. She preferred a house where everyone pitched in to get things done. She didn't recall doing much at all with her parents when she was growing up, not chores and not fun stuff either.

She started simple by making some waffles for L4z3r and herself, but they turned out absolutely horrible. They were blackened and hard as the kitchen tiles. L4z3r, the dutiful husband, ate them anyway.



Toni couldn't bring herself to even take a bite, so she gave up and ended up microwaving a hot dog for herself for breakfast. A hot dog at this hour of the morning would normally seem pretty gross to her, but she was so starving that she didn't even care.



**************************************************

Now that the wedding was over, Amanda was eager to get back to work. After she had put together her report on Mr. Bakshi's information, she had realized that she had overlooked an obvious person to speak to. Her very own mother was the owner of the theater where all this was going on.

She knew her mom would have little to do with the day-to-day goings on around the theater, but as the owner, she would have records of all of the staff, as well as access to any records Amanda wanted to get copies of. Since Sandi performed at night, her days were mostly free, so Amanda called her up and asked if they could meet in the park.

When she arrived, her mother was waiting for her and Amanda couldn't help but roll her eyes.



Her mother the rock star couldn't even bother to dress sensibly in the dead of winter when a foot of snow was on the ground.

"Geez, mom, aren't you freezing?"

"What? Oh the snow? Darling, it's nothing to me. I barely feel it."

"O ... kay, well just let me know if you want to go to the bistro or something, I need to talk to you about something pretty important."

Amanda filled her mom in on the case she was working on, but she really could have saved her breath. Her mom cut her off about halfway through.

"I have no idea about any of this stuff, darling, don't bother to explain it all. What you need to do is talk to Kaylynn Langerak. She is the theater manager's assistant and she knows everything about everything in that place. There's no way she's involved in anything shady, not that one. She's never taken even a step off the straight and narrow. And she's an absolute dear. Anytime I need anything to do with the theater, I call her."

Okay, so her mom hadn't helped her that much with the case, but Amanda had to admit, with what little information she had, she had pointed Amanda to the exact right person to talk to.

"Thanks mom," she actually leaned in and gave her mom a hug. Sandi jumped with surprise at first, but then she gave a warm hug back.

"Oh, and don't forget to invite me to this wedding I'm sure you'll be having soon. I saw you and your young man at L4z3r's and you'd better lock him down quick. And make sure the bar is fully stocked. And that you have good music. I can get you someone fabulous. I can even play myself."

"Slow down, mom, we're not quite there yet. But I'll think about it. Now I have to get back to work, and you'd better get ready for your rehearsal."