The Kindle Random Town Jump

[Beks]

Chapter 58 – Eyeballs

(There’s a lot of toddler spam in this chapter. You have been warned. Beware!)

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Harvey, Clover, Desert Rose, and Michaela are settling in to life in Riverview. They have wildly different schedules, for the most part (Michaela and Clover work early and spend the evenings skilling; Rose works late at night and sleeps at random times; Harvey plays his instruments approximately 20 hours a day, only pausing to eat, change a diaper, or hop in the Motive Mobile), but once in a great while they see each other for a shared meal.

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And surprisingly, Rose is quickly adjusting to motherhood. Her evil antics at the expense of her nephew have not yet transferred to her daughters. She adores them.

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She’s even taken to Hunter a little bit, even if Hunter remains deathly afraid of her.

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He’s not afraid of anyone else, though. Aunt Clover is always around to take care of him. Her Nurturing trait is already showing up.

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The one thing Hunter really seems to dislike is pooping. And that’s all I have to say about this picture.

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Hunter is a popular guy. Even with two babies in the next room, everybody just wants to take Hunter out of his high chair when he’s done eating his ground-up pancakes.

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Now that her son is a growing toddler, Michaela is free to become a growing adult. (She happens to be over at the McDermott house when she ages up. Obviously, she’s scouting out potential spouses. Can’t start too early!)

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When they’re not at work, the grownups stay busy with skilling and keeping fit. Clover and Rose both have to work out for their jobs; Skyler just wants to see how many people can work out in front of the same stereo at the same time.

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Harold Lansing: “Oh, MY! Three sims exercising all at once! I wasn’t aware that this was permitted by the game code!”

(The jury’s still out on whether you can have four. Michaela wouldn’t budge from the couch to join them.)

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Harvey is making great progress in learning four instruments. That smug face is the result of him maxing out the guitar skill. Next, it’s time for…

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…the bass! He’s clearly still a beginner, because he doesn’t even realize that his bass is invisible. Do you think he dropped it?

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All right, I won’t make you wait any longer. Let’s see what these baby girls look like! Are you ready for the big reveal? Michaela’s ready for the big reveal!

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Rose is not ready. I think she’s in denial or something.

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Anyway, here’s Aria! Aria is basically a clone of her mother, minus the Evil part. Yup, she’s Good, and she also Loves the Outdoors. Her favorite things are Hip Hop music, Fried Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwiches, and the color Yellow.

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And here is Dawn! Yes, the Kindle hair has returned once again. Other than that, Dawn looks almost identical to her sister. Dawn is Artistic and Neurotic, and she likes Chinese music, Mac and Cheese, and Hot Pink.

So neither girl inherited anything from Harvey. I’m just as sad as you are. These girls are 100% Kindle, which I guess is okay. They are who they are. Maybe the red hair and icy blue eyes will come back in a future generation—or show up in the next child, if Rose and Harvey decide to have a third. (I confess: I was very, very close to just changing one of their hair colors to Harvey’s and being like “Wow, look, a redhead!”. But that would’ve been very uncool. So here we are.)

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Talking lessons start right away. I actually didn’t realize at the time that I gave both girls the same hairstyle. Oopsies. We’re deprived of good toddler hairstyles, okay? This is like the only cute one!

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Hunter gets a lesson, too. He looks less enthused.

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There are also potty lessons. Why do I always insist on taking so many potty pictures? Yes, they’re cute, but also WHY?

While we’re showing pictures of Dawn…Dawn has a bit of an oddity about her. She really likes to stab herself in the eye with things. I have TWO examples, which is a lot for a toddler who can only interact with a handful of objects.

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Here she is trying to suck milk out of a bottle with her eyeball…

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…and here she is thrusting a xylophone mallet into her eye socket. I mean, I know she’s Neurotic, but should it really be developing this early? And this violently?

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Aria seems to be completely normal so far. Look at that sweet little face!

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Like I said, Rose is proving to be a wonderful mother at this early stage. She may have a certain over-fondness for Attacking with the Claw, but a lot of new parents learn this to be true about themselves under the stress of parenting.

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Okay…once in a while, Rose shows signs of wickedness. Like when Dawn starts crying in front of the potty and Rose spends a few moments cackling before scooping her daughter up and putting her to bed. Just a few moments. But…still.

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We’ll finish out this chapter with two accomplishments of Clover’s. First, she maxes the athletic skill. Honestly, it kind of annoys me how serene Clover looks whenever she's doing anything that would make me miserable. But still, congrats, Clover! I guess.

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She does it just in time to age up to adult.

Next time, there will probably be more toddler spam. Just saying. Hope ya don’t mind! See you then.

[deedee_828]

Oh, the twins are cute, even without Harvey's red hair, though I feel your pain.
But the 3rd time could be the charm...or it could show up in the next gen.
Which I've had happen more often than not, as long as the grandparents jump to the next town with them.

I really wanted Dashing Desmond's turquoise hair to show up in one of his children, but no luck.
Then it showed up in a granddaughter, who wasn't a fairy, but hey, you can't have everything.
Then I had Des' and Carly have a child in the past via the time machine in the next town....and who steps out? A YA fairy with her father's turquoise hair!
Of course he passes it on to a child who isn't really eligible! Because, you know, murphy's law and all.

And then out of nowhere, my turquoise haired human heir has a 3rd child that not only gets the hair but is a fairy!
My perseverance paid off, luck of the watchers maybe, but oh well, not turning it down!
But the luck seems to have run out as with the current generation, 3 of 7 toddlers have turquoise hair, none of whom are in the heir lineage!

But a spouse with 2 heirs, and multiple spares inheriting it---I think I did great overall!

I wish even more luck for the Kindle's and Harvey's looks and hair!

[Trip]

The girls might have some growing into their features to do. The Clark-Bellamore genes had three chances already! Hunter got nothing either. But they're all cute, and I'm not worried about Dawn because real toddlers are on the verge of causing grievous bodily harm 24/7/365

[Beks]

Chapter 59 – Happy Campers

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Harvey struggles to find time to spend with his young daughters. With four instruments to master, he doesn’t really have a lot of time to do anything except practice. But on a day when he’s made good progress on the bass and needs a break, he takes little Dawn to the library to read her some toddler books. Painting books, to be exact.

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He’s sure to give Aria some attention as well.

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Hunter’s birthday sneaks up on everyone. Hunter is super excited for his very first piece of cake, which he will be able to eat all by himself!

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Well, he’s excited until he realizes who’s holding him.

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Still, he makes it through the transition, eats his cake, and heads to a mirror. Hunter rolls the Unlucky trait. I guess we’re not in Lucky Palms anymore.

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He pushes forth with bravery, though, and plays peek-a-boo with cousin Aria in spite of the fact that he probably won’t win. Not that I have a clue how you win peek-a-boo.

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In the other room, Skyler pulls his wife aside.

“Michaela, I’ve been thinking. Now that Hunter is old enough to start school, I wonder if we should consider starting over. You know, in our own house. You and I both have careers to focus on, and Hunter needs the freedom to grow and be his own kid. Plus, this house is only going to get more chaotic as the girls grow up…”

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“Honey, I’m so glad you said that. The more time goes on, the less I’m able to hear the TV. I could really use some peace and quiet. Also, your sister scares me.”

(I love Michaela, but all she does, 100% of the time, is watch TV in the study. She doesn’t have much of a personality, to be honest.)

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With that settled, Skyler and Michaela broach the subject with their son. Hunter seems excited about the prospect of having his own room and a new house and backyard to explore. He’s ready for the change.

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Skyler scoops up his niece and holds her close before making the phone call to the real estate office. I don’t know why. And he looks awfully sad while he’s speaking to the real estate agent. He purchases a house just around the corner from this one. They’ll be close by, and can visit anytime…but Skyler has been with his sister and cousin for his whole life so far. This change will be a hard one, but a good one.

So Skyler and fam move out, and the Kindle house feels a little emptier—and a little less hectic. I’m sad to see Skyler and Michaela go, but I was beginning to feel overwhelmed by everything going on, and anyway, I want to focus on the twins now.

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Desert Rose works on teaching her daughters to walk and talk. She’s started using the Moodlet Manager more often, to keep up with her late-night shifts at the warehouse alongside raising two toddlers.

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Aria and Dawn are happy little campers. They’re some of the least fussy toddlers I’ve ever had. They’re content to sleep, eat, and learn their skills on a relatively predictable schedule. I think they’re going to be bright and successful sims in the future.

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Well, sometimes they’re not happy campers. Aria has mastered the pout. Not that a pout would work on a future empress of evil…but it’s worth a try.

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The only one who is a little unhinged as a result of the move is Harvey. Then again, he’s unhinged by everything. (I like this picture because of how well Harvey matches Rose’s painting.)

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When being at home stresses him out, Harvey retreats into the world of music, where he...still doesn’t look entirely okay.

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Even a nice woohoo session causes Harvey to freak out, for some reason.

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This is one of the best glitches I’ve ever seen in this game. Aria somehow gets stuck INSIDE her doll house. I don’t even see her there until I spot a little pair of arms sticking out through the windows, twisting a plastic doll to the point of breaking.

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GAH! Aria! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were on the path to Evil just like your mother! (Don’t worry, she’s Good. Just a very creepy sort of Good.)

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And how’s Clover doing? She’s doing very well, skyrocketing (heh) through the ranks of the military career and going on regular dates with her beau.

George: “Aren’t you going to eat anything, darling?”
Clover: “Can’t. Trying not to stare at the confusingly handsome man behind me.”
George: “Isn’t…isn’t that your cousin Skyler?”
Clover: “Exactly.”

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Worry not, friends. Clover only occasionally struggles with momentary distraction on account of her old cousin crush. At all other times, she is smitten with George, and he with her.

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See, when they finish woohooing, they pillow fight! How adorable is that? (Side note: I’d like to draw your attention to George’s butt. Mm-hmm. You’re welcome.)

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Desert Rose is also doing well. She’s making rather slow progress in criminal work due to her maternity leave and a couple of arrests early in her career, but she’s beginning to catch up. This is just after she gets promoted to Getaway Driver.

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Maybe all that driving isn’t so good for Rose. She wakes up in the middle of the night to respond to Dawn’s cries and finds herself feeling suddenly nauseous.

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The next afternoon, in the middle of cooking spaghetti, she learns why. Looks like Rose’s career progress has screeched to a halt once again. It also looks like Harvey’s freaking out was merited. Another Kindle is on the way!

[Beks]

Chapter 60 – Death(s) & Birth(s)

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The twins’ birthday arrives, and with it lots of excitement. These girls are growing up so fast! A very smelly Rose takes Aria to the cake…

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…whilst a smelly Harvey and a smelly Clover cheer them on. Jeez, everybody around here needs a shower.

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Just before she blows out her first candle, Aria turns to her mother with a bit of a crazed-looking stare. I know she’s just trying to figure out how to blow out a candle, but it honestly creeps me out. Again with the creepiness, Aria!

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Finally, Aria makes it to the sparkles and grows up into a child.

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Dawn goes next. It looks like she beats her mother to the candle-blowing part.

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Ta-da!

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Before I can get the girls to the mirror or the dresser, Aria hops right up on a chair and starts presiding over the royal court. Looks like we have a future leader on our hands!

Rose: *sigh* "You can try, darling, but you'll never usurp your mother."
Aria: "I respectfully disagree."

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Aria opts to keep the headband style she aged up with, but she picks out a yellow one to match her outfits. Aria already had the Good and Loves the Outdoors traits; now she has Insane to add to the list. (Now that I think about it, that could explain the creepiness. It was just her insanity, biding its time, waiting impatiently to burst forth...)

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Dawn, who was already Artistic and Neurotic, is now Absent-Minded as well. Not my favorite trait; in fact, I’d say it’s in my bottom five, mostly because it’s completely USELESS. But anyway.

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The girls start displaying their personalities right away. Aria’s first activity as a child (after presiding over the royal court) is to go for a joyride on the upstairs couch. I think she’s trying to distract Clover from her solo darts game.

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Dawn, meanwhile, has a wish to learn the writing skill. She heads across town to take a writing class, then stops in at the library to start working on her first novel. As soon as she walks in, she witnesses her first townie death.

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Bennie Dean: *yawn* “Life is boring. I guess I’ll die now.”
Dawn: "......"

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Poor Dawn. This is not going to help her neuroticism, but at least she has a meaningful (though painful) human experience to write about now. She stays at the library for the rest of the evening, writing her book entitled The Library Ghost. (Also, RIP, George’s father. )

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After that sad event, we thankfully have a happy one. Surprise, everyone! Clover is pregnant!

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The two pregnant women in the house enjoy swapping pregnancy gripes and stories. These two remain close friends, in spite of their very different personalities.

Rose: “Oh, yes. Your baby is going to be Evil, through-and-through. I can already hear the blood boiling in this baby's veins.”
Clover: “Nonsense! A child of George Dean can’t possibly be Evil.”
Rose: “Fine. They’ll at least be a pyromaniac.”
Clover: “Why? George isn’t a pyromaniac.”
Rose: “…okay.”

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With a sibling and cousin (wait...second cousin? first cousin once removed? second cousin twice removed...? help) on the way and some very busy parents, Aria and Dawn are left to fend for themselves a lot of the time. They’re quickly becoming independent and self-sustaining little ladies. They even put themselves to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour, in their newly decorated pink-and-yellow-and-blue bedroom.

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Harvey continues to make great progress on his Lifetime Wish of being a One Sim Band. He’s already maxed guitar and bass, and he quickly moves on to piano. He’s playing for tips out by the grocery store when he witnesses his first townie death. Poor Meadow has to watch her husband, Norman Joy, bite the dust right in front of her eyes.

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Harvey takes a dark situation and turns it around, though. He and Jon Lessen both take the opportunity to make a boatload of money off a mournful audience lift everyone’s spirits with some upbeat music.

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It turns out that that brief peek-a-boo session with her cousin when she was a toddler made it so that Aria is best friends with Hunter. She wants to go over to his house almost every day after school. It’s nice to see that the other Kindles are doing well (in the house that the Middlemisses lived in, no less!), even if Hunter isn’t really on the same wavelength as Aria.

Aria: “Come on, Hunter! I’ll be the queen of our kingdom, and you can be my peasant subject and fetch me things!”
Hunter: “But I’m busy, Aria! I have to write a sentence with the word 'tyrant' in it. Can you help me?"

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While Aria is visiting her relatives, we also discover that Aunt Michaela is pregnant for a second time. (Also, she’s gone back to pursuing her Lifetime Wish. She’s a firefighter once again. I guess she was never really happy as a teacher––which could explain why she spent all her spare time in front of the TV.)

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That afternoon, Rose wakes groggily from her nap. She gets out of bed…

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…takes a second to make the bed…

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…and promptly goes into labor. Actually, she was in labor from the moment she woke up, but of course, making the bed is the most important thing right now.

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Rose opts to have the baby at home this time. After a couple hours of heavy breathing and restrained agony, Desert Rose gives birth to her third child—a boy! This is Calder Kindle, everyone. Will he be the one to inherit his father’s genetics? You’ll have to wait and see!

[Beks]

Chapter 61 – Things Happening In Yards

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This house is full of kiddos right now. Remember when we moved to Riverview, and then Skyler and Michaela and Hunter moved out, and suddenly it felt kind of empty? Yeah, not anymore. And it’s only going to get busier!

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Clover is adorable 100% of the time, but she’s extra adorable while she’s pregnant. I’ve never had a sim rub her own tummy and make little cooing noises as often as Clover does. She’s so excited to meet her baby. <3

I send Clover around the corner to say hello to her cousin-in-law Michaela, who is also very pregnant. I didn’t get a picture of Clover standing outside the Kindles’ front door, but she stands out there for a very long time. I’m sitting there waiting too, wondering why Michaela isn’t coming to the door (she’s on her way to invite Clover inside, according to Clover’s action queue). Then, after a few minutes, I zoom in close to the front of the house and faintly hear…a sound. A sort of strained moaning sound? Like someone is in pain? Maybe?

In a burst of realization, I pause the game and use NRaas MC to “open” the house and see what’s going on.

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Turns out I didn’t have to. This whole time, Michaela has been out in the backyard, perfectly visible to anyone who thinks to spin the camera around, IN LABOR. I get to the backyard just in time to see this beautiful moment––Michaela holding her daughter Lacie for the very first time. (That name is purely coincidental. Skyler did not name his daughter after his old high school crush, Lacie Diwan. How could he? He's at work when the naming happens! I swear!)

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Clover finally finds her way to the backyard as well.

Clover: “Oh my gosh, Michaela! I can’t believe you’ve been giving birth out here all by yourself! Haha! You could have at least let me in…I could’ve helped you!”
Michaela: “Nah, that would’ve been too much work.”

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Thank goodness Clover gets back there in time. Less than an hour later, it’s her turn to go into labor.

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Good thing Shana Natcher, the most persistent paparazzi I’ve ever seen, is here to be of assistance.

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Shana Natcher: “And how are you feeling at the moment, Ms. Kindle? Flushed? Sweaty? In agonizing pain?”
Clover: “Mostly I’m just wondering how you got in here.”

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Since Shana is being so nosy and Michaela went inside to watch TV a long time ago (surprise, surprise), Clover decides it would be best if she went to the hospital to finish out the birth.

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A few hours later, she emerges holding her son, Benny. Benny is named for his grandfather, Bennie Dean, who died in the last chapter and will never get to meet his only grandson. (As a sidenote, Tatiana Ivanov is REALLY EXCITED that this total stranger gave birth to a boy.)

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George meets Clover at the hospital midway through the birth, and they take a taxi back to the Kindle house together.

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After putting little Benny to bed, the lovers find solace in the front yard—the sandbox, in particular—and express all those ooey-gooey new-parent feelings to their heart’s content. Dawn rolls her eyes from a few feet away.

Dawn: “Jeez, can’t you guys do that INSIDE?”

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The making out isn’t enough to satisfy Clover’s love for George. She’s been harboring a secret wish for a while now, and it’s finally time to make it known to the world. She kneels down in the sand, takes a box out of her pocket, DROPS IT (God I love clumsy sims), and quickly recovers in time to ask George a very important question.

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“George Dean, you are the most wonderful thing in my life. And now that we have a child together, I think it’s time we become a real family. Will you marry me?”

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He says yes, of course.

Ah, love and marriage and happy things. How’s the rest of the family doing?

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Rose: “What’s that you got in your nappy, Benny? Hmmmmm? Is it candy? For ME?”

So yeah, basically everything’s normal with the rest of the Kindles.

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Clover can’t get enough of motherhood, it seems. Even though she’s exhausted from the birth and totally deserves a good long sleep, she slaps on her martial arts gear, kicks the dummy in the yard for a few hours, and then heads upstairs to tuck her niece into bed with a book. (Into the wrong bed, but hey.)

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Desert Rose celebrates her Adult birthday, and gets a midlife crisis. I am very afraid of the wishes to come. Very afraid indeed. (Of course, I needn’t be—Rose’s regular wishes are just as scary. She and Harvey have a brief argument soon after this, and Rose pops a NON-MIDLIFE-CRISIS wish to see Harvey’s ghost. So, yeah. Nothing’s changed, really.)

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But before Rose can change her hair back to normal, it’s Calder’s birthday! It’s about 2 in the morning, because this is when Rose is awake and also because I hate the infant stage and toddler birthdays must happen immediately after midnight. So the rest of the family is a bit groggy and confused as they file down to the kitchen.

Apparently I was a bit groggy and confused too, because I didn’t take any pictures of the actual birthday after that last one. Or maybe I was just too excited to see what Calder looks like. Here we go!

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Ta-daaaaa! Alas, he’s not a redhead, but he DOES look a lot like his father—those bright blue, slightly droopy eyes are to DIE for. I’m happy, even though red hair would’ve made me happier. Calder is beautiful. He is also an Artistic Virtuoso, and he likes Indie music, French Toast, and Grey.

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Loooook at these two. Look at those adorable, sad eyes! I could weep!

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Harvey is, appropriately, a huge fan of his son. (He would be regardless of what his kid looked like, of course.) He has this thing where he can’t stop taking Calder out of the crib, then immediately putting him back in. And taking him out. And putting him back in. As if he can’t bear to let him go to sleep. :’(

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While we’re on the subject of the Kindle hair, here’s a picture of Hunter, Skyler and Michaela’s son. He’s aged up to teen and is starting to remind me a lot of his grandfather Nile. Like, a lot.

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And the twins are doing well. They’re working hard in school and getting along fine. Aria signed up a little late for Scouts, then misses her one chance at a scout meeting for a field trip. *shrug* I tried.

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And Harvey and Rose are still very much in love, despite of their occasional disputes. They often stay up all night together, Rose painting, Harvey playing his music. I often catch Harvey gazing longingly across the room at his evil lady. Why he loves her so much, I honestly don’t know.

Next time, there'll be more birthdays and probably some random disasters. It's gonna be a fun time!

[Beks]

Chapter 62 – It's About Time

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Clover is an adorable mama. Just look at how happy she is.

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To top off her happiness, Clover reaches level 10 of the martial arts skill a day or two after giving birth. Now that is something that I could never do.

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There is lots of ooey-gooey baby goodness in this household these days. Also, ooey-gooey baby food.

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Calder: *nom nom nom nom*

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Harvey doesn’t have a super close relationship with either of his daughters, because he’s spent most of their lives out of the house playing for tips. With Calder, it’s a different story. Harvey wants to do nothing but play with his son and teach him how to walk and talk and potty. It’s endearing, but Harvey, you can look forward to LOTS of daddy-daughter dates in the future. I won’t have you playing favorites!

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Speaking of daughters, the twins are doing very well. Aria loves to ride her bike—it shows on her face. She’s an outdoorsy girl for sure.

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The twins are in school now, and thus are starting to meet some boys. Boys are very important for the future, you know. This is…I think this is Terry McDermott. I think.

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And this is Dawn with her closest school friend, a paper boy named Alphonso something. Ignore the boy, because he's not a townie and therefore out of the running, and ignore Dawn, because worshipping the moon is just part of her daily routine.

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Ah, now HERE’s a promising candidate. When I find out that Heather and Odin Crosby have a son, I send Aria over to meet him right away. (The Crosbys are my favorite Riverview family.) When little Mario comes out of the house, he immediately trips and stumbles, while Aria chases an invisible bug that’s apparently trying to make a home in her ear. This isn’t a great capture of the moment, but the simultaneous goofiness of it is absolutely adorable.

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Ahhh, and Mario is a beautiful, beautiful boy. I’ll be keeping an eye on him for sure!

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Meanwhile, Dawn goes over and meets two out of the three Lobos triplets. Yes, the Lobos family had triplets, after the original set of twins. Two boys and a girl! Vera Lobos is lurking around somewhere, but her brothers, Marques and Alonzo, happily hang out with Dawn for a few hours, sipping juice and listening to her insane ramblings.

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Harvey’s adult birthday sneaks up on him..

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…and robs him of his beautiful hair. This is very upsetting to Harvey.

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Calder learning to pee is also very upsetting. I don’t know what to tell you, Harvey.

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This concerning moment is interrupted by a sound we haven’t heard in quite a while—the fire alarm. Ahh, a fire in the Kindle house! It’s about time!

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Turns out the fire is a result of Clover leaving waffles in the oven when she goes to change Benny’s diaper. On my orders. Oops.

Clover: “This is your problem, watcher, not mine.”

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The rest of the family is perfectly prepared to panic, and utterly unhelpful in the quenching of the flames.

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Firefighter: “Aarrghhh, you playable families are USELESS when it comes to safety regulations!”
Rose: “Oh, no, did this near-death experience make me look fat??”

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After the fire, Harvey is reminded that life is short. And for once, instead of lapsing into a mental breakdown, Harvey takes action. He’s an Adult now, and he only has so much time left. It’s about time he grew a mustache.

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His moment of maturity is of course ruined by his darling wife, who brings him right back to his usual state of terror. Hey, he’s probably more comfortable there anyway.

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In all the hubbub from the fire, everyone forgets about Benny’s birthday. He ages up right on the nursery floor.

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Okay...um... *hyperventilates*

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Oh. My. Goodness. He is DARLING. (Can anyone tell me where that insane hair color comes from?? I looked back through George’s family tree but his parents both had gray hair.) Benny is a squeezable little bundle of cuteness. He is also Excitable and Friendly, and his favorite things are Latin, cheesesteak, and the color aqua. (Obviously I forgot about his favorite color when I was dressing him. Oops.)

Next time, more kid activities! And hopefully no more fire.

[Beks]

Chapter 63 – Afraid of Cake

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I feel like I’ve started the last eighteen chapters with a picture of Clover being a cute mom, but she just KEEPS BEING A CUTE MOM, OKAY? And anyway, now you can sort of see the resemblance between herself and her son. Awww.

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Some of Benny’s facial expressions are all his own, though. Look at those shiny dark eyes! I’m learning that I am a weak woman in the face of certain toddler pouts. SOMEBODY GIVE THIS BOY A COOKIE, STAT.

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Calder’s pout is a little more sad-looking. Hey, with those eyes, what else can he do?

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Calder is still learning his toddler skills from his daddy. Harvey can afford the time off––he’s nearly maxed out 3 out of 4 instruments and he’s barely an Adult. He’ll have plenty of time to play music when Calder is older.

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Meanwhile, Aria is displaying a knack for cooking that is surprisingly well-developed for a kid her age. She even sets up a bake stand down by the bookstore. (Her dad sets the mood with some lively piano in the background.) Oh hey, that’s Hunter Kindle! Hi, Hunter!

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Hunter: “Gee, you have so many great options here, Aria! I guess…I’ll take…no, I can’t decide. Okay, how about…this brownie? If only I could take them all…”

Aria has a successful night of selling baked goods––one of the best I’ve ever seen. I mean, I hardly ever attempt this, but over a hundred simoleons seems like a good haul to me.

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The next day, Aria comes downstairs to a mysteriously hushed house. She swears she heard someone calling her name a moment ago…but where is everyone?

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Oh! They’re all in the kitchen, waiting to celebrate her birthday!

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The twins’ childhood flew by. I can’t believe they’re already going to be teenagers.

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Man, Aria really likes the headband look, doesn’t she?

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Dawn goes next. She’s afraid of cake.

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She also forgot to change out of her pajamas before succumbing to the frightening power of a randomly generated outfit. Yikes.

Now, let’s pop these lasses into CAS!

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Okay, check this out. This is Aria wearing Desert Rose's hairstyle. Like, are you kidding me? Aria and Rose are the real twins here!

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Anyway, here’s Aria with her actual, unique hairstyle (headband-free, at least for now) and a shiny new pair of yellow glasses. Aria picks up a very unusual trait––Photographer’s Eye––to be added to her Good, Loves the Outdoors, and Insane traits. On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t have given her glasses. Wouldn’t someone with a Photographer’s Eye have great vision…?

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And here’s Dawn, looking all sultry and Elle Woods-ish. She picks up an even rarer trait, if that’s possible––she is now a Vehicle Enthusiast. Um, okay? She’s also Artistic, Neurotic, and Absent-Minded, making her an all-around confusing person. I'm very curious to see what her final trait will be.

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Aria’s insanity hasn’t shown itself too much thus far, but as soon as she becomes a teen, all of a sudden it’s everywhere. Even though she’s Good…she’s still very much her mother’s daughter.

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Aria! How could you be snotty to Clover?! I am deeply ashamed of you!

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I promise you, Aria had nothing to do with this. The dishwasher was broken and puddle-soaked already, I swear!

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And don’t worry about Clover, either. She gets singed and immediately feels the need to go for a run. What a woman.

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Once the girls are teens, I notice that they don’t actually have a very good relationship with each other. This must be amended! Since they don’t have school until tomorrow, they go downtown with their dad and goof off together while he plays for tips in the background.

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One last and very important thing must occur before we close this chapter. George Dean needs to meet his son as a toddler. Clover invites him over that night after dinner. He arrives without fanfare and plunks himself down at the kitchen table with a book.

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Clover drags him out into the hallway where they can talk in private, kind of.

George: “Wow, my gorgeous fiancée in a bikini, holding my firstborn son? No thanks.” *gag*

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Eventually, George seems to wake up out of his stupor. And this is when I learn that sims can flirt even when they’re holding toddlers. I can’t figure out how to get George to hold his son…but we’ll get there one day. In the meantime, let's all admire this cute little family. Toodle-oo!

[Beks]

Chapter 64 – Fuzzy Legwarmers

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Life goes on in the Kindle family. Dawn and Aria discover the game room upstairs around the same time Harvey gets tired of playing music and decides to throw darts at the wall instead.

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The girls also go to their first day of high school together. Of all the outfits you could have chosen, Aria, I feel like this is the least interesting.

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Their attitudes toward homework appear to be quite different. Key word here being APPEAR. Aria is only smiling because she’s Insane. She actually hates homework just as much as Aria.

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Benny is still just about the cutest toddler I’ve ever seen in this game. He plays enthusiastically with his toy boat, cuddles with his mommy, and stars in way more screenshots than I’ll be showing you here.

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Calder is…um…a little less well-behaved? You might say?

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As the twins build their friendship with each other, things sometimes go awry.

Dawn: “I can’t believe you, Aria! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were off your nut!”
Aria: “But…but I am off my nut. I have the ‘Off-His-or-Her-Nut’ trait.”

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Dawn: “I KNEW it! No wonder you wear fuzzy legwarmers to school! I thought it was to embarass me! Turns out you’re just crazy!”

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Dawn: “Your fuzzy legwarmers make me so anxious, Aria…”
Aria: “I know, sweet sister of mine. Your neon pink cardigan screws with my vision and enhances my hallucinations. This is just how things are with us.”
Dawn: “I guess so.”

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Although they are very different, Dawn and Aria find ways to get along. Dawn’s Neuroticism and Aria’s Insanity really don’t line up well, though. I think they sort of trigger each other in certain ways. Still, they do their best to remain close.

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A big reason for that fight, by the way, was Dawn waking up with a mood swing. She’s so distressed that she breaks the family computer while trying to set up a prank. With a surprising burst of maturity, she wishes to fix the computer herself, and takes her mistake as an opportunity to start practicing handiness. (And amazingly, she doesn’t get electrocuted. Karma!)

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Desert Rose continues to rise through the ranks at the criminal warehouse. About halfway through her adult years, she finally gets to choose the criminal branch of the career. She’s truly on her way to empress of evil now.

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Clover goes back to work after her maternity leave and immediately gets promoted to Squadron Leader, earning this fabulous new uniform. You can still see the astronautical dreams in her eyes…she’s not too far away!

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Calder is wrapping up his toddler years by learning the xylophone. (I tried to have him play with it many times before this, but it turns out the object was glitched and had to be replaced. Now Calder plays it nonstop.)

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Rose is apparently not very happy to have another musician in the household.

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Speaking of which, Harvey is officially three-quarters of the way to reaching his Lifetime Wish of mastering four instruments. He finishes piano while performing in front of the bookstore.

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A couple days into their teen years, the girls get ready and head off for the biggest event of the teen life stage––prom!

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I had been hoping to see some romantic action for Dawn and Aria at prom, but my wish is only granted partially. They get a romantic interest each, but both boys are pudding-faced babysitters and not actual townies. (I believe this is largely my fault––when the Kindles moved to Riverview and NRaas SP was sending me the initial set-up prompts, I accidentally prevented the mod from deleting the homeless population. As a result, the town has been flooded with pudding-faced clones, with only a handful of actual townies spawning.) Both girls get into at least one fight––Aria gets into two. At least Aria also gets prom queen and almost faints from the excitement. (And then almost faints again afterwards from exhaustion.)

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Harvey: “So *BADUMP* Aria, *BANG* how was *CHHHHH* prom? *KATHUNK*”
Aria: “Sorry, Dad, can’t hear you over that racket.”

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Aria: “I’m so glad I got to be prom queen. It almost makes dating a babysitter worth it! Aren’t you glad I got to be prom queen, Dawn?”
Dawn: “Ecstatic.”

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Rose arrives home late after the girls get home, wearing this SHOCKINGly dramatic new uniform. I guess I don’t play through the criminal career very often, because I feel like I’ve never seen this getup before. It’s awesome!

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Harvey is up late, too. He’s on his fourth and final instrument and well on his way to completing his greatest wish.

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Big things are coming for little Calder, too! His birthday is just around the corner.

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And he’s very excited for it. See you then!

[Trip]

The fuzzy legwarmers fit her sense of fashion but I was still expecting the real meaning to be finding the toggle in MasterController to enable body hair for women. Maybe if the twins continue to have zero luck finding boys...

[Beks]

Chapter 65 – Hearts Everywhere

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It sort of feels like Calder and Benny have been toddlers forever, but they just keep coming up with new styles of cuteness, so I don’t really mind. For instance, they place dollhouse together. Calder takes after his big sister and plays INSIDE the dollhouse. I guess that’s a Kindle thing now. (Side note: did you know that toddlers build relationship with each other WAY FASTER while playing dollhouse together than they do when using the blocks table? Like, it’s alarming. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.)

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I also come across the two boys sitting like this in the foyer. I don’t know how they came to sit so close to each other. Or how Benny manages to play the xylophone while looking at his cousin (?) (wait, second cousin?). It’s almost like they’re having a conversa…

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…never mind.

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Clover is, surprisingly, very close to aging up to elder. Since she’s only just become a mom, and hasn’t even gotten around to marrying George yet (oops, that’s my bad), she decides to get a tattoo and give herself a bit more time. She deserves it.

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Speaking of which, it’s about time we got Clover and George hitched, eh? Step one is, of course, a bachelorette party. Everyone the family knows is invited, including the apparently ageless and still dapper Lucky Perkins, as well as—now now, who’s this handsome young fellow?

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Why, it’s Mario Crosby, of course! He and Aria are already best friends, so naturally, now that they’re teenagers with hormones, they realize how attracted they are to each other. (Some lady offscreen to the left is very excited about this fact.)

While Aria and Mario (now THAT’S fun to say) sheepishly talk on the front porch, what is Dawn up to?

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I find Dawn in the hot tub with yet another handsome young fellow. Oooh, is that one of the Lobos boys? I think one of them aged up with that hairstyle—

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—nope. It’s George Dean, and I am an idiot.

Dawn: “Oh, George, I can’t wait till you’re part of the household! You’ll be like our fun uncle! You can tell us everything about boys, and—”
George: *subtly preparing to extract himself from the hot tub*

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Harvey and Rose are inside doing actual party activities, which is admirable. It’s been a while since they’ve done anything together.

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Turns out the rest of the guests are doing actual party activities also! I find everyone upstairs bonding over darts and foosball. Clover, the guest of honor, is absolutely crushing Betty Newbie at darts.

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Dawn gets out of the hot tub eventually, and comes to see what her sister is doing on the porch. There, she meets Mario for the first time. And…uh oh. Hearts everywhere, people––hearts! everywhere!

Mario and Dawn end up talking and flirting (autonomously!) for basically the rest of the party. I don’t know if it’s his Flirty trait or the fact that Dawn is in a swimsuit, but Mario seems really into his best friend’s twin sister.

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Harvey isn’t so pleased about this.

Harvey: “My sweet daughter, why do you associate yourself with mismatched youths like this? This little punk puts the color red to shame by pairing it with such a nauseating shade of azure!”
Dawn: “It’s not that bad, Dad! He’s not a playable like we are. Besides, he’s cute! Cuter than Aria ever told me…”
Mario: *smiling dreamily*

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Back inside, a surprise celebration––it’s Calder’s birthday! I don’t usually forget toddler birthdays, but I definitely did this time around. Calder starts aging up just as his mother is heading out the door for her shift at the warehouse (in a SNAZZY new uniform, I might add).

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I’ll be sad to see this cutie become less cute in about five seconds

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The curse of red and azure strikes again!

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Because I’m distracted with the party, I don’t get Calder to a mirror before his bedtime. His sister Aria tucks him into a big-boy bed for the first time. (Actually, it’s his parents’ bed, because I haven’t actually made Calder a bedroom yet.)

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Aria is struck with a fit of insanity and doesn’t quite finish reading Unplug It First!. Calder doesn’t seem to mind, and sits up on the bed dreaming happily about wrenches and screwdrivers.

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Outside, Harvey is still being the third wheel in Dawn and Mario’s conversation. Clover is out there, too, having a drink.

Harvey: "Oh, good, cousin Clover! Come help me dismantle this budding romance between my daughter and this color-clashing hoodlum."
Clover: “I'm going to need another drink first."

Before the party ends, though, somebody has to make a toast. And since Clover apparently has no friends except her fiance…

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George: “Come round, come round, everyone! Oops, sorry, Betty.”
Betty: “It is fine. Everything is fine.”

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George: “All right, everyone, I’d just like to say that Clover here is the most wonderful woman I have ever met, and I can’t wait to hold her in my arms forever. You know, like this.”

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George: “Also, I—um, darling, what are you doing?”
Clover: “Nothing. Please continue.”

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Yeah, it’s getting harder to come up with these speeches for my sims. Anyway, George breaks out the nectar so he can properly douse his bride-to-be. I’ve never seen such a devious facial expression on him before. Or any facial expression, really…

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“Yaaahhh!”

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It is at this moment that I realize that the balding older gentleman who’s been lurking around this party is NONE OTHER THAN SKYLER KINDLE. Just a fun fact. Poor Skyler lost his playable status, his plotlines, AND his hair.

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The night winds down eventually. The guests trickle out and the family goes to bed. Except for George, who takes up mixology as a 1 a.m. hobby. I think he’s getting nervous about the wedding.

See you all next time!

[Beks]

Chapter 66 – Boys

Mmkay, so remember how I thought the party was over at the end of last chapter? Yeah, good times! Well, it wasn’t.

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Lucky Perkins writes a little bit of an epilogue for this party and kicks the bucket in front of the guests.

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He’s an old dude, and I believe Story Progression even gave him an extra grace period because he had a couple of children late in his life. So it’s his time to go. G’bye, Lucky!

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Okay, NOW the party’s over. Even the party dancers think so.

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Oh, did I mention that Calder aged up with the Coward trait?

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Poor kid—I don’t know which he’s more scared of, death or half-naked cops.

Everyone else survives the bachelorette party and eventually gets to bed. The next day is Saturday––a busy day for all.

First on the docket: the twins need to break up with their romantic interests. I know, we all love NPC pudding-faces (note the heavy sarcasm), but these two boys just won’t cut it for a Random Town Jump, where the whole point is to experience a wide variety of townie genes.

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Gary: “Haha, NPC pudding-faces! That’s a good one!”

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Gary: “WHAT? You’re SERIOUS?”

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So Gary is gone. Next up is Dawn’s special friend––uh, er, I already forgot his name. He gets slightly less angry than Gary did, at least. (Also, I have no idea why Clover is suddenly acting all scared. She must’ve just gotten pranked or something. Maybe because she’s Nurturing, the idea of a teenager getting his heart broken is traumatizing to her, even if the teenager has no face and no soul. I guess we’ll never know.)

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The most important part of today, though, is Clover and George’s wedding. It’s been a long time coming, and it is beautiful. After that wild bachelorette party the night before, the two of them decide to go for a quiet wedding in the countryside. (Actually, they’re right across the street from the house.)

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After many years of dating and the birth of their first child, Clover and George are finally husband and wife.

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Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Kindle-Dean!

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Another long-overdue event: Calder’s child makeover. Sorry your head looked like a lumpy biscuit for so long, kiddo. As I mentioned, Calder is now a Coward. His other traits are Artistic and Virtuoso.

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Now that George is a part of the family for real, he finally gets to spend time with his son. You can just see the adoring love in little Benny’s eyes. :’)

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As such, it’s George who witnesses Benny’s first steps, and George who teaches him how to walk.

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There’s a lot of father-son love in this house, and it’s giving me all the feels.

Now we must switch gears from family love to new romantic love. Dawn and Aria are now free to explore their spouse options. Dawn is still acquaintances with the Lobos boys from elementary school, so she decides to pay them a visit over the weekend and see what sort of young men they’re growing up to be.

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When she gets out of the taxi, she finds herself walking to the front door accompanied by another friend of the Lobos boys. It’s Derick Newbie, a guy she knows distantly from school but has never really talked to.

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Dawn strikes up a conversation while waiting for someone to come to the door. Right off the bat, she discovers that Derick Can’t Stand Art. To an Artistic girl, that’s not an attractive trait in a guy.

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Wondering what’s taking the Lobos boys so long to show up, I check on Aria back home. She’s invited over her best friend Mario Crosby, and—ooooh, things seem to be going well!

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I hop over back to Dawn, and—oh my! Look at that smolder! Dawn and Derick are autonomously flirting like crazy, in spite of the core difference in their traits. I guess the physical attraction between them overrides the personality clash. (And Marques Lobos has arrived but doesn’t seem to be anywhere near Dawn’s romantic radar.)

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Ah, that seductive look is impossible to misinterpret. Dawn has one of the sultriest Sim faces I’ve ever seen, and she uses it well on Derick. (Marques is talking to his, um, girlfriend, by the way. Turns out he’s not as available as I thought he was.)

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Aww, Derick seems pretty smitten with the fire-haired beauty whom he wasn’t even supposed to meet today.

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The two of them share their first kiss right in front of Marques’s girlfriend (right) and Vera Lobos (left). Looking at this picture after the fact, I have to wonder if Vera and Derick were meant to have a rendez-vous, instead of Dawn and Derick. Oops. No wonder Vera looks so offended.

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And back home, Aria plants her first kiss on Mario. I guess Mario’s flirting with Dawn at the party didn’t mean anything, because he seems totally committed to Aria now. Excellent.

Well, that was easy! I was honestly expecting some more difficulty in finding mates for the twins (and part of me was hoping one of them might end up with a girl). Alas, they had other plans for themselves.

As usual, the spouse hunting takes up an entire chapter. Next time, we’ll get on to less more exciting things.

[Beks]

Chapter 67 – The Final Spar

We are slowly but surely approaching the end of our time here in Riverview. The twins are almost grown, their future spouses are chosen, and Harvey and Rose and close to achieving their Lifetime Wishes. And the watcher over it all—that’s me, hello, hi—is feeling, once again, pretty overwhelmed by the number of people running around in this household.

Someone’s going to have to leave sooner or later. But first––

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Desert Rose: “Hey Clover! I challenge you to a spar. Since we haven’t fought since we were teenagers, I’m pretty sure I’ll crush you to a pulp.”

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Clover: “You’re on, cousin! You’re not the Empress of Evil YET!”

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And so they spar.

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Mario (in the background): “Come on, Aria. I don't really want to see your mom get squashed by a master martial artist.”
Aria: “Yeah, me either. Let’s go make out in the sandbox.”

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The fight begins with Clover taking a flying leap like some sort of deranged praying mantis.

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Rose: “I…don’t know this move…but okay!”

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Rose does land some punches, or swipes, or whatever they’re called. (I know nothing about martial arts, if you can’t tell.)

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But she’s continually caught off guard by Clover’s masterful moves.

Rose: “What are you doing NOW?!”
Clover: “A midair horizontal full-body rolling kick! Watch out!”

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Rose watches, but she doesn’t exactly watch out.

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She gets clobbered.

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Desert Rose: “Well, I guess I admit defeat. You are a true fighter, cousin Clover.”

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Clover: “And don’t you ever forget it.”

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After the spar is over, Clover continues to assert her dominance by subjecting poor Harvey to an intense round of weight training. I don’t think he’s ever been within fifty feet of a weight machine in his life.

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Yeah…

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That day also happens to be Benny’s birthday! This little cutie patootie is finally going to get less cute.

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I was hoping George would get to take his son to the cake, but nope, it’s Harvey as usual.

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I’m not crying, you’re crying!

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Little Benny grows like a weed and becomes a Snob. All right, then. At least he’s still Friendly and Excitable underneath that.

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And at least he looks absolutely adorable in this upside-down-cereal-bowl haircut!

Now that Benny is a proper child, it’s time for things to get moving. Specifically, it’s time for Clover’s side of the family to get moving.

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Clover tells Benny all about their exciting future as a family, just the three of them (or maybe more, if we’re lucky). She tells him about the beautiful farmhouse that is about to become their new home.

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Back indoors, George leaves his mark on the Kindle family by starting his first pyromaniac fire.

George: “Whoops.”

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Dawn: “Seriously, Uncle George?”
George: “I was never here, Dawn. I was never here.”

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Mysteriously, the fire goes out on its own after only a few seconds. George covers his actions with the smoothness of a smooth criminal by shaking his butt in the foyer.

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And outside, Clover makes the call to the real estate agent she’s been in secret contact with for the past few days.

“Is the house ready? Perfect. We’ll be right over.”

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And with that, Clover, George, and Benny Kindle head off to their new home in the countryside. The house isn’t far away, so the family can visit anytime. Clover still has some time left as an adult—enough time, I hope, to have another baby or two, and to get one more promotion and become an astronaut like she’s always dreamed. (Her wedding to George resulted in so many days off that I didn’t see the point of waiting. Hopefully Story Progression will give her that last promotion before the rest of the family moves to the next town.)

Now the household is back down to five. I will miss Clover and her family desperately––in all honesty, I planned to keep Clover in the family until her death. But when she met George and started rolling wishes to marry him and have kids...I realized that she deserves to follow her own dreams. She'll always be in my heart as that little astronaut bouncing around on the roof of the house in Lucky Palms.

Aaaand I'm done being sentimental. For the moment, anyway.

[Beks]

Chapter 68 – Father & Daughter

Dawn and Aria are full-fledged teenagers, and they are very active in doing teenager things.

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Dawn discovers the thrill of pranking. Seriously, it’s a thrill. I promise. She just never shows her thrilledness on her face.

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Or at least, it’s a thrill for poor Harvey (who could totally pull off an aquamarine look if he wanted to).

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Something about the hair dye screws Harvey up, though. When he comes over to let his daughter off the hook a while later, he looks a little cross-eyed.

“There there, sugar pumpkin. No need to feel guilty over this silly prank. How about I teach you to drive, thereby instilling you with greater responsibility and putting you at greater risk for rash behaviors?”

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Dawn the Vehicle Enthusiast, who has been waiting for this moment all her life, actually displays her thrilledness in this situation.

“Okay, yeah, totally! Thanks, Dad! I don’t feel guilty at all anymore!”

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They spend the afternoon driving around town in the Motive Mobile, and Dawn is a licensed driver by dinnertime. (She also receives a fabulous hot pink car as a gift from her watcher, but said watcher failed to get a picture of that. The one in the background belongs to Desert Rose.)

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When she gets home, Dawn continues working on that novel she started when she was a child (entitled The Library Ghost). She finishes that one and starts a new one before bed. This one’s called I Like Hot Pink Carz, because her editor is really great at coming up with book titles.

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Dawn is evidently the star of this chapter, but the rest of the family is doing fine too. Calder’s favorite activity, by far, is playing in the sandbox. He’s out there all day, every day, anytime he’s not in school. All by himself he gets really far in the hidden sandcastle skill. He also buries his homework a couple of times. I don’t know if this hidden skill will help him at all in the future, but it certainly shows that Calder loves to make things!

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Desert Rose continues to thrive in the upper levels of the criminal career. She’s very close to becoming Empress of Evil. But since she’s not Empress yet, she gets electrocuted trying to fix the dishwasher. That wouldn’t happen to an Empress. Probably.

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Harvey and Dawn, who have been trying to repair their relationship since the whole hair dye incident (learning to drive didn’t do much to help, for some reason), get stuck in a “no, you go first” loop instead of jumping to Rose’s aid.

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After a concerningly long time, it’s Dawn who takes control of the situation, mostly because nobody else would.

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A firefighter shows up eventually.

Firefighter: “How are you doing that?! Show me your ways, young prodigy!”
Dawn: “You just spray it! I don’t know! This is YOUR calling in life, not mine!”

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Things settle down, and the firefighter leaves in a huff, having been outshined by a teenage girl yet again.

Calder: “Eww, it smells smoky in here. So is anyone gonna eat this sushi, or what?”

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Life goes on for the Kindle kiddos. (I feel like I say that every chapter. But I mean…it does!) They attend school, and all three get on the honor roll. Dawn goes to Newspaper Club a couple afternoons a week.

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Aria’s primary hobby is cooking, but between intensive peanut-butter-and-jelly sessions, she hangs out with her friends. She gets to know Alonzo Lobos pretty well (triplet brother of Marques and Vera). He’d be a good contender for spouse if Aria hadn’t already chosen Mario. (See, he's even waving to the forum! What a gentleman.)

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And Dawn spends all her time writing, just like her grandfather Nile. She has her own moodlet manager and makes use of the Motive Mobile to keep from getting stressed out.

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Sometimes her wacky sleep schedule gets her in trouble. (Who else has accidentally stayed at the library until way past their bedtime? *raises hand*)

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Once again, Harvey must discipline his daughter, and he has an appropriately hard time doing it.

“Oh, how can it be? My sugar pumpkin, a criminal! A delinquent! A ruffian! Now I must be hard on her, for she has broken both my heart and the law!”

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Dawn: “Dad, I just got picked up by the police! It was amazing! I can’t wait to write about it in my next—”

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Harvey: “Dawn, how could you act in such a lawless manner?! You are too young for such hooliganism! You bring disrespect and shame upon this family, upon this household, upon the very Kindle name!”

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Dawn: *yawn* “You do realize your wife has the job title of Super Villain, right?”

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So Dawn is the naughty one in the family. Aria’s highest form of rebellion is plopping herself down in the sandbox right near where Calder is building a sandcastle. Not that Calder seems to mind.

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Desert Rose maxes the athletic skill one afternoon, only a couple of decades after her cousin Clover maxed it.

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We end this chapter with a delightful scene. Harvey still goes out and plays for tips most days, with limited success. But once in a while, his music draws a crowd, and instead of tipping him, they dance. Even though Harvey only walks away with about eighty bucks after this, he brings a lot of people joy, which is more important anyway.

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And look, Skyler and Michaela are there too! They’re some of the last people to leave, two elderly lovers dancing long into the night.

[MIA2009]

Been reading this like the forum equivalent of a Netflix binge. I love your captions and the way you always catch the glitchy stuff and make it hilarious. And the faces they make! Holy cow!