A Townie Dynasty with Zest, Completed

[MarianT]

A Townie Dynasty with Zest

Table of Contents

Part One: Johnny Zest and a Short Guide to the Challenge



Chapter 1 -- Set-up
Chapter 2 -- First Ten Points and Free Day
Chapter 3 -- The Last Day

Part Two: Ojo Zest



Chapter 4 -- Transition to Ojo
Chapter 5 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 6 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 7 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 8 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 9 -- The Last 10 Points and Free Day

Part Three: Lewis Zest



Chapter 10 -- Transition to Lewis
Chapter 11 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 12 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 13 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 14 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 15 -- The Last 10 Points and Free Day

Part Four: Houser Zest



Chapter 16 -- Transition to Houser
Chapter 17 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 18 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 19 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 20 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 21 -- The Last 10 Points and Free Day

Part Five: Bjorn Zest



Chapter 22 -- Transition to Bjorn
Chapter 23 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 24 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 25 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 26 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 27 -- The Last 10 Points and Free Day

Part Six: Elsa Zest



Chapter 28 -- Transition to Elsa
Chapter 29 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 30 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 31 -- The One with 0 Points
Chapter 32 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 33 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 34 -- The Last 10 Points and Free Day

Part Seven: Maki Zest



Chapter 35 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 36 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 37 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 38 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 39 -- The Last 10 Points and Free Day

Part Eight: Vivian Zest



Chapter 40 -- Transition to Vivi
Chapter 41 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 42 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 43 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 44 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 45 -- The Last 10 Points and Free Day

Part Nine: Olive Zest



Chapter 46 -- Transition to Olive
Chapter 47 -- The First 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 48 -- The Second 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 49 -- The Third 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 50 -- The Fourth 10 Points and Free Day
Chapter 51 -- The Very Last 10 Points and Farewell

Generation Ten: Joanie Zest

[MarianT]

Houses Used: Slipshod Mesquite, ZenView Apartments, Cypress Terrace, Parkshore, The Lighthouse, Pier Palace, Hakim House, Medina Studios, Yuma Heights, Garden Essence
Lot Traits Used: Party Place, Quake Zone, Great Acoustics, Good Schools, On Ley Line, Penny Pixies, Gnomes, Fast Internet, Gremlins, Homey, Private Dwelling, Historical, Home Studio, Filthy, Cursed, Romantic Aura, Natural Light, Sunny Aspect, Bracing Breezes, Grody
Skills Used: comedy, singing, piano, wellness, dancing, mixology, writing, gourmet cooking, baking, fishing, programming, video gaming, painting, pipe organ, logic
Aspirations Completed: Joke Star, Musical Genius, The Curator, Master Chef, Computer Whiz, Painter Extraordinaire, Mansion Baron, Renaissance Sim
Jobs Completed: Politician -- National Leader, Tech Guru -- Start-up Genius
Collections Used: MySims, frogs, crystals, carved pumpkins, photographs, wood carvings, fossils, paintings, postcards, fish

[MarianT]

Chapter 1 -- Set-Up

Welcome! I am A. Watcher, and I'm here to introduce you to the Ten-Gen Townie Dynasty. It's the latest long-term challenge devised by the Challenge Team, and they hope you'll enjoy it.



The rules are rather lengthy, so I'll just give you an overview. Some of the concepts come from the Townie DecaDynasty for TS3, and some come from the ISBI (I'm Surrounded by Idiots) Challenge, so if you've ever tried those, you'll have some familiarity.
Basically, you'll take a premade townie and follow his or her family through ten generations, each generation marrying another townie and moving in with the spouse. That's the bit from the Townie DecaDynasty. The wrinkle comes from the ISBI Challenge -- except for certain "free days," you'll be able to control only your founder or heir. You'll earn a "free day" every time you accumulate 10 points. On a free day, you can control all the Sims in your household, and you won't gain or lose any points. Once you've accumulated 50 points, you'll switch control from your founder to your heir, and then from one heir to another. You'll get positive points for things like leveling up in skills and making good friends, and negative points for things like fires, demotions, and hiring an NPC.



Before you start your dynasty, you'll have to create a Sim and move him or her into the Crick Cabana house. You won't play this Sim at all (I'm only getting some time here to make the introduction).
 
Your next task will be to fix up your town. Some useful objects like the telescope and rocket ship are quite large and won't always fit on the lot of the house one of your heirs has moved into. So you might want to place them on a community lot somewhere.



You can add recreational objects like the water slide and the basketball court to a park.



One building you have to add is a museum. This will be where your dynasty places its portraits and collections. You can set aside space for the family cemetery, too. You can build your own, modify an existing museum, or use the Willow Fine Arts Museum in your library on the Gallery.



You may want to bulldoze some community buildings to make room for others. As long as at least one type of that building remains, that's fine. You should keep the library in Willow Creek, though, and the large parks in Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, and San Myshuno. You can leave the bulldozed lots empty for future venues or  to put in a restaurant or retail store.



You can make slight alterations to the existing lots, such as putting in a useful door, or removing a light fixure and some boxes that are in the way of your movie screen. But your alterations should be slight. And once you've set up your town, you shouldn't alter anything except the museum lot and any retail stores or restaurants that your Sims own.



Once you've finished setting up your Sims' world, save it as a template. If you have to start over, you at least won't have to set up everything again.

And now it's time to make the acquaintance of our victim founder.

"Sa-a-an Myshuno, where the cabs come whipping down the street..."



"Johnny! Johnny Zest!"
"San Myshuno, here I come..."



"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you, San My-shu-uno!"
"I'm the Watcher, and I'm here to talk to you about a dynasty."



"I'm not interested. Been there, done that, and I don't even have a t-shirt to show for it. Besides, I'm moving to San Myshuno."
"But this is different. For one thing, you'll be the Founder."



"Not interested in watching my wife die while I live for another eight generations."
"It's a different kind of dynasty. No one becomes immortal. There's no ambrosia, so you won't have to spend all your time gardening and fishing."
"Nope."
"You'll insure that the Zest name lives on long after the Landgraabs have died out."
"No I won't. They'll still have their name on an apartment building in San Myshuno."
"And you'll have your name on a building, too -- the Zest Family Museum."
"I don't know...I'd still rather move to the city."
"And you can do that. It'll be rather crowded though. Are you sure you wouldn't like to move to a larger house here in Oasis Springs? There's a really nice young woman -- Zoe Patel -- just a few blocks away."
"San Myshuno or no go."
"Very well, I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, you can start working on your collection."

[MarianT]

Chapter 2 -- First 10 Points and Free Day

Since Johnny was an aspiring comedian, he and the Watcher (well, mostly the Watcher) decided that he would collect My Sims dolls.



It took him about 3 days to find 10 of the dolls. Johnny took a selfie to display with the collection. His museum still had plenty of empty wall space, but it was a start.



Finally the day came when the Watcher let him go to San Myshuno. For a while, Johnny wandered around the city. He read the billboard for a movie about a folding chair that came to the big city. Johnny could relate, but he thought it might be a more interesting movie if it were about a pretty girl.



A human statue was trying to get tips. Johnny tossed her a few Simoleons and found that he'd gained entrance to the Mimes' Guild. Now he could busk for coins whenever he wanted.



Hungry, he stopped at a food truck and got something to eat. To his surprise, he was handed chopsticks instead of a more manageable fork or spoon. A little girl laughed at him. "Hey, aren't you Medusa Zargon from that story on Carl's Forum?" he asked. "No," she said. "You eat funny."



The woman next to him was quite pretty, and Johnny was interested to find that she was single. ("She lives in a studio apartment -- you'd never have enough room," the Watcher whispered in his ear. "Come on, I've found someone for you.")
Johnny thought he could find someone on his own, but when the Watcher insisted, he didn't have much choice. He took the elevator up to an apartment, where he met Miko Ojo.



They had a pleasant chat, and Johnny called the next day to ask her out on a date. They went to Myshuno Meadows, and spent some time talking in the house there.



Talking soon became kissing.



When the date ended, Johnny paused for a moment to admire the city skyline before returning to his trailer in the desert.



Miko called the next morning and invited him out for breakfast. She serenaded him while they waited for their meal, and her voice was so beautiful that Johnny knew he'd have to marry her soon. ("Within the next three days if you want the baby to arrive on time," prompted the Watcher.)



Johnny proposed.



Miko accepted, and they eloped.



"Now you can start accumulating points," said the Watcher.
"Points?" said Johnny.
"You'll need 50 to get rid of me and have me start controlling your heir. But you get a free day every time you accumulate 10."
"What's a free day?" asked Johnny.
"It's when I control the others in the household as well as you."
"Doesn't sound very free to me," he muttered.
"But if I'm concentrating on them, it means I won't be paying as much attention to you."
"Oh," said Johnny. "Free day -- I get it."
"Now start telling some jokes," said the Watcher.



Johnny got a point for bringing his comedy skill up to 3, and another point for making 1000 satisfaction points. The next day, he got a promotion at work, which brought in a 3rd point, and writing jokes on the computer brought comedy up to 4, for a 4th point.
That night his son, Ojo Zest was born.



Johnny soon became good friends with him for a 5th point.



Miko came home from work with the good news that she'd been promoted, and Johnny himself was promoted again at work for points 6 and 7. He had to work the night of the Humour and Hijinks Festival, but it was still going on when he finished. He joined the Jokesters' team and told a few jokes to bring his comedy skill up to 5. Because he'd chosen the Comedian branch of the Entertainer career, Johnny also made enough progress on his aspiration to get to a Satisfaction level of 2000, for points 8 and 9. When the fireworks went off signaling that the Jokesters had won the Festival, Johnny felt as if they were marking his personal achievement.



The next day Johnny told a few jokes to his housemate, Darling Walsh, making her his good friend. That was his 10th point, and he was relieved to get it. Darling's grades had been steadily deteriorating. If she went to school again without doing homework, she'd slip from a B to a C, and that would result in a -1 for him.  When Darling settled down with her textbook, Johnny knew that the Watcher had taken over.



Upstairs, baby Ojo had become a child, and he was doing his homework, too. ("Go ahead and help him," the Watcher urged.) "I thought this was my free day," said Johnny. "Why can't Miko do it?"



("Because she's outside protesting for No Sim Left Behind," said the Watcher. "If she gets support for her cause, she'll get promoted faster.")



The free day ended the next day at 4:49 pm. The Watcher had had a few disappointments. Akira Kibo, Miko and Johnny's other housemate, had come home with a promotion, which meant that was a point that Johnny missed getting. And he was too tired to do anything except go to bed, which meant that he didn't have time to practice programming or go visit a penthouse.

But on the whole, she was pleased with the Zests' progress. Ojo had picked up the traits good, genius, and music lover, and enjoyed working on his creativity skill.



Singing contributed to that, and the Watcher figured she could always take off the headphones for a while whenever he stepped up to the karaoke machine. For the time being, Ojo looked better than he sounded.



Johnny's Stats upon moving in:
 Photo: $7
Collection of My Sims dolls: $450
Satisfaction Points: 0
Comedy Skill: 2
Entertainer Job: 3
Aspiration: Joke Star
Household Income: $37,157

[MarianT]

Chapter 3 -- The Last Day

"Psst -- Johnny!"
"Watcher? I know you've been with me all this time, but you usually don't talk."
"Well, I'm here to say good-bye. It's almost time, you know."
"For Grim?"
"No, for me to start controlling Ojo. You just need one more point, and Miko will probably score that for you when she comes home from work with a promotion."



"Wow. I had no idea. Well, before you go, Watcher, there's something I want to say..."
"Look, I'm really sorry about the refrigerator breaking down and nearly frying you when you tried to fix it."



"That doesn't matter..."
"And I know the parties were mostly failures, not to mention that one where Miko got so angry because your landlady Myra was trying to flirt with you. Lesson learned -- don't throw a party at the same time as the Romance Festival, huh?
"Watcher, I'm trying to say thank you."
"Well, Johnny, you're welcome."
"Seriously, if you hadn't taken over my life, I'd still be hanging around Oasis Springs, dropping in on newcomers with fruitcake and generally making a nuisance of myself. There's a lot of stuff I'm grateful for, so you'll have to listen for a while. First of all, there's my job. Thanks to you, I'm not just some hapless stand-up comedian, but a success.



"Second, you made it possible for me to come and live in this gorgeous city, where there's always something going on.



"And you let me go to festivals and pick up t-shirts, and bubble stuff, and snow globes.



"If it weren't for you, I would never have met my good friend, Akira. We didn't talk much, and he was often using the computer, but he had my back, if you know what I mean. Of course, he did set the kitchen on fire, but no one was killed, and it didn't cost too much to replace the stove...



"Anyway, finding out that he got something going with my other good friend, Katlin, and that she's actually pregnant with his kid -- wow, that's amazing.



"And what can I say about Darling? When I first met her, I thought she was weird, and then I thought she was annoying because she would never do her homework...



"...but now, I'm just so grateful to her for all the singing and game-playing she's done. And I'm so proud of her for finally getting a promotion and getting out of that llama suit.



"So I wanted to save the best for last, but I can't say whether Ojo or Miko is the best. My family -- okay, I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful to Miko for introducing me to the odd people who show up at her protests for No Sim Left Behind. I mean, who knew that you could raise money for children and elders whose family forget them at restaurants and amusement parks?



"And Ojo. You know, he has my hair color, but Miko's features -- the eyes, the mouth, and the wide cheekbones especially.



"I remember telling him that we'd installed a very special nightlight that would keep the monster under the bed away -- and how surprised I was when that actually worked.



"He's going to be a good heir, I think. He's already got a start on all our portraits, even though he didn't like painting when you first made him do it."



"Okay, Johnny, it's about time..."
"Just let me share with you one memory I have of Miko and Ojo together. I don't know what she was telling him, but they were so happy -- that's what I want to thank you for, all the happiness we had together. And I guess this is it -- I heard Miko come in, so from now on, you'll be controlling just Ojo."



"There's still one free day," said the Watcher, "and I think I know one last thing we can do together..."



What better way to celebrate an achievement than with fireworks?

Stats for the Founder, Johnny Zest
Skill points: Comedy - 8; Singing - 4
Promotion points: Johnny - 5; Miko - 4; Akira - 4; Darling - 1; Ojo - 1
1000 Satisfaction: 7
Good Friends: 9 -- Ojo Zest, Darling Walsh, Akira Kibo, Talking John, Katlin Houser, Seiji Sakamoto, Mizuki Yamaguchi, Nobuya Suzuki, Kengo Yoshida
$30,000 added to household funds: 1
Skill/aspiration maxed: Johnny - 4; Darling - 4
Negatives: Fire -2.

[MarianT]

Chapter 4 -- Transition to Ojo

(Hey! Ojo!)
Ojo looked away from his painting. His dad was playing the guitar and singing, so it couldn't have been his voice he heard. And there was no one else on the balcony.
(It's me, the Watcher. I'm in your head.)
It's the fumes from the paint, thought Ojo. I'm hallucinating.



(No, it's really me, the Watcher. Now that your dad's done with his part of the challenge, it's your turn.)
"So that's why he's gotten happy all of a sudden," said Ojo. "Wait -- this means you're going to be telling me what to do all the time."
(Not all the time. Just occasionally. Like now. Instead of painting something that isn't a portrait of one of your housemates, do you know what you should be doing?)
"Um, painting somebody's portrait?"
(Good guess, but that can wait a little. Right now, you need to meet your future spouse. I've done some research and come up with three candidates for you.)
"I'm perfectly capable of choosing --"
(Do you know any single young adult women?)
"Um, no, but..."
(Then quit complaining.)



"Hello. I'm Ojo Zest. I live over in the Fashion District."
"Pleased to meet you," said Billie Jang. "I love the outdoors and -- darn, I just lost at Blicbloc again."
(Let's go. This apartment is even smaller than the one you grew up in, her mother has the romantic trait, and I think it would be a bit weird having a billboard of the romance guru staring in your window.)
"Nice talking with you," said Ojo. "But I've got to go. I've got a thing..."
(At the gym.)
"...at the gym.
"Why are we going to the gym?" he asked as he got on the elevator.
(Elsa Bjergson is doing a workout there. She's a genius, like you.)



"You come here often?" asked Ojo.
"Only once a day," said Elsa. "I'm terribly lazy. I can't stand to exercise more than an hour."
(Okay, Elsa's a definite maybe. Now for Olivia.)



"What I want more than anything is to marry the love of my life and fill this house with children," said Olivia.
"Is there currently a 'love of your life?'" asked Ojo.
"Not yet," said Olivia. "Oh, and to bring about world peace. World peace is very important to me."
"It's important to me, too," said Ojo. "How many rooms did you say this house has?"
Olivia giggled. "I've never counted them. But let me see, we have five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a bar, a dining room -- oh, and a grill on the patio, a living room, the piano room --"
"You have a whole room for a piano?" asked Ojo.
"Well, it's a grand piano," said Olivia.
"Wow," said Ojo. "You know, I play the piano a little. In fact, I love music."
"Oh. Would you like to play something?"
(No. You already have 4 skill points on the piano.)
"I'd love to, but a little voice in my head is telling me I have to go."
"Well, I hope that little voice tells you to give me a call sometime."
"It will, it will," Ojo promised.
(I don't know. That house is huge, and it will be hard to keep track of everyone. Plus, Olivia is a goofball.)
"Dad is a goofball," said Ojo, as they returned to San Myshuno. "And it might be nice to have some room to move around in. Enough room for a grand piano -- think of that."
(Elsa has a large house, too. And I hope you're not just interested in Olivia because of her piano.)
"No, Watcher, I like Olivia, too. You might not have noticed this, but Billie kept playing her computer game while I was talking to her, and Elsa kept running on the treadmill, but Olivia actually put down her tablet and held a conversation. I'm going to ask her out."

Actually, Ojo didn't get a chance to call Olivia because she called him and suggested they meet at the cafe in Windenburg.



They talked about world peace some more and how important it was to give money to charity.
"My mother's a fund-raiser for No Sim Left Behind," said Ojo.
"That's wonderful," said Olivia. "I think it's terrible the way people with large families forget a child or two when they leave the restaurant. And elders, too. Are you a politician as well?"
Ojo coughed. "No, I haven't decided on a job yet. I've been too busy collecting frogs and painting portraits. I'm in a dynasty challenge."
"Oh you're so lucky," said Olivia. "I've always wanted to help someone become immortal, but I'm the wrong age."
"It's not an immortal dynasty, it's something new," said Ojo.

By the end of their date, they were friends, and Ojo gave her a key to the apartment. "In case you ever come to San Myshuno and want to stay overnight," he said. "We don't have much room, but I could sleep on the couch and you could have my bed."



"Uh, thanks, I think," said Olivia.
(Awkward.)
"Yes, I know -- I mean, I know my parents would love to meet you."
(More awkward. Leave now before it gets worse.)

Before Ojo's next date, the Watcher gave him some advice. Become friends before you start flirting. Cloud-watching is a good way to do that.



Before proposing, get her into a flirty mood. A passionate kiss should accomplish that for both of you.



When you propose, go down on your knee and tell her that the ring comes with your heart attached.



Be prepared to catch her after you propose and she says yes.



(And that's it. Mission accomplished!)
"Ojo?"
"Yes, my sweet?"
"I hope you don't mind -- I've told my parents about you."
"No, I don't mind at all. I'm looking forward to meeting them."
"And they're happy to hear that I'm marrying a doctor."
"A what?"
"Well, you're good and you're a genius, and you haven't decided on a job yet, plus, it would mean less worry for us when we have the children..."



(That's actually a good idea -- it will get you away from that huge house.)
"I'll apply to med school as soon as I get home," said Ojo.
Olivia smiled at him. "And then we can get married."

There were a few other things Ojo had to do first. He put his frog collection and his portraits of Akira, Darling, and his mother Miko in the Zest Family Museum.



His portrait of Johnny he placed in a special gallery. It was hard to believe that some day his portrait would be hanging there, harder still to imagine that future heir who would pose with all of them.



Ojo's Beginning Stats

Portraits: Akira Kibo, Miko Ojo, Darling Walsh, Johnny Zest, selfie, worth $535.
Collection: frogs, worth $365.
Skill level: piano, 4
Job level: Doctor, 1
Satisfaction points: 1335
Aspiration: Musical Genius
Household Income: $55,435.

[oshizu]

Thank you so much for starting a Ten Gen Decadynasty Challenge story.
As someone who's never played an ISBI challenge, I find the team's new challenge intriguing but still rather intimidating.
I really appreciate your showing us how it's done.

You seem to be flying through the challenge!

[MarianT]

I used Johnny Zest to test the point system, so I didn't take that many pictures. And then I liked the family so much that I decided to stay with them. The rest will go more slowly, I think.

[reggikko]

Are collection items the same as in the Immortal Dynasty, both crafted and collected? I'm going to start my official file when I get home from work. I still need to do a bit of work on community lots.

[MarianT]

Are collection items the same as in the Immortal Dynasty, both crafted and collected? I'm going to start my official file when I get home from work. I still need to do a bit of work on community lots.

Yes, the same as for the Immortal Dynasty. Good luck with your start!

[NexttoNormal]

Looks like you're off to a really solid start! Good luck to Ojo!

I may have to try this challenge out myself after I get further in my current dynasty attempt ends.

[FrancescaFiori]

I am so excited to see this story! It's so wonderfully helpful to see how things play out in a new dynasty, and starting with Johnny and Miko was such a great choice! I love this and will be following closely!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MarianT]

Chapter 5 -- First 10 Days and Free Day

The wedding didn't go at all as planned. Ojo took his family to Myshuno Meadows early in the day and started making a white cake. When he finished, he couldn't place a wedding topper on it, though. He called to set up the wedding. Everyone changed into their formal clothing, and he went to the arch to marry Olivia. Who wasn't there. The Watcher searched the lot, but there was no sign of her.
Ojo cancelled the wedding and called Olivia to ask her on a date. She said she was busy. Ojo went to her house, but she wasn't there. He went back to Myshuno Meadows, and this time she was on the lot. He arranged a wedding again, and finally they met under the arch.



The wedding arranger seemed to think they were just on a date, but that didn't matter. The Watcher knew there was no hope of getting a gold medal this time. For one thing, the cake had spoiled. She cheered with everyone else when they exchanged their vows. They didn't get any fireworks, because the message about moving in interrupted that. Still, Ojo and Olivia were married, and that was the main thing.



As Ojo had observed, Olivia's house was huge. The first floor alone was twice the size of his parents' apartment.



The second floor was smaller, but there was plenty of room for children and their toys.



And on the third floor, Ojo found the grand piano.



As soon as he and Olivia had taken care of a few other things, he sat down and played for her.



His father-in-law, Eric Lewis, came upstairs to listen. Ojo discovered that he was a detective.
"Sorry I couldn't make it to the shindig, but you know how it is. Crime never takes time off, so I can't either."
"Pleased to meet you, sir," said Ojo. Even though he'd never committed a crime, he felt guilty, as if something horrible might be uncovered in his past.



Going downstairs, Ojo saw his mother-in-law Alice. "She's a double diamond agent," whispered Olivia, "but her cover is that of a slightly batty old lady. I can't tell you how many conspiracies and plots she's exposed."



Ojo was up early the next day; his shift started at 7 am. One of his first patients was Darling. "I sprained my ankle playing basketball," she said. "Have you tried eating this stuff?"
"No," said Ojo. "They don't have it in the staff room."
"Yeah, well, my advice is that you stay away from it, kid. It's obviously loaded with toxins and it tastes like boiled shoes."



It wasn't long before Olivia was pregnant.
"Definitely twins," said Ojo. "I'd say a boy and a girl."
"You can tell that just by feeling?" asked Olivia.
"Of course. I'm a trained medical professional."
"You're totally messing with me, aren't you."
Ojo grinned. "About the boy and girl, I have no idea. But unless you swallowed two growfruit, I'd say you have twins."



"Speaking of people who look like they've swallowed a couple of growfruit..."
Ojo groaned. "I don't really have time to exercise. And it's not like I eat that much."
"And I'm a qualified gym trainer," said Olivia. "Now pull."



When the moment came, Ojo reacted like a trained medical professional -- one whose wife is having a baby, that is.



But just as he'd predicted, Olivia had a boy and a girl. Lewis, the heir, came first, followed by Johanna.



"When you said you wanted to fill the house with children, I thought you were kidding," said Ojo.
"I'm pregnant again," said Olivia.



Soon Lewis and Johanna became children. Lewis was a loner who would grow up to be a dance machine who hated children; Johanna was active and would become a perfectionist art lover.



Ojo contemplated his breakfast hamburger sadly. In just one minute he would have to change into his scrubs and go to work.
(See, this is why I didn't want you to move into such a large house. If you hadn't climbed up to the 3rd floor to use the bathroom and then come down again, you might have had time to grab a bite or two.)



Work was going fairly well for Ojo; he kept getting promoted every couple of days. And he never knew who he might meet.
"This isn't going to hurt a bit."
"Only really bad people lie to children."
"Seriously, it's not going to hurt."
"Ow!"
"I haven't even touched you yet, um, Hazel, last name Houser. Hey, you must be the daughter of my unofficial uncle Akira."
"Yeah , well, your unofficial uncle is way behind on child support, not to mention trips to the circus and other family stuff."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Ojo.
"Oh, just get this shot over with."
"It's already done," said Ojo. "'Bye, Hazel."



Besides not getting enough to eat, Ojo was falling behind on his sleep. Lewis might complain to his mother when there was a monster underneath his bed...



...but it was Ojo who attacked it with the bottle of cleanser.



The next day Ojo saw a familiar face. "Back for another shot?" he asked.
"That was my sister Hazel. I'm Norah. She said you're a bad person who lies to children, but she dramatizes everything so I didn't pay any attention."
"Glad to hear it," said Ojo. "Are there any more of you at home?"
"Yep, there's my sister Amber."
(Out of three sisters, Lewis should be able to find one to marry.)
"Yes, I know."
"Well if you knew, why did you ask?"
"Let's just take your temperature, young lady."



But it wasn't all work and sleep deprivation. Ojo occasionally had time to play chess with Johanna.



And Lewis began to work on becoming friends with the monster.



One day Ojo saw a familiar face at the hospital.
"It's a terrible thing when a mother has to pretend to be sick just to see her son."
"You're not pretending, Mom. You really do have gas-and-giggles, but this should cure that."
"Your father isn't getting any younger, you know."
"I know. Why don't the two of you come over for dinner tonight?"
Miko sniffed. "We'll see."



"This is a really big house," said Johnny. "What do the taxes run on this place?"
"About $10,000 a week, but we can manage."
"I'm surprised you can get any work done on the challenge. Just taking care of the plumbing here must eat up a lot of time."



"I think I hear Olivia screaming, Dad. She's probably gone into labor. I'll be back in a minute, and we can chat, okay?"
"I'm fine. I'll just relax on this couch and watch your enormous TV."
Indeed, Olivia was in labor. By the time Ojo got upstairs, she was holding little Mike, named after Ojo's mother, Miko.



Ojo picked up his first 10 points by becoming good friends with Olivia, Lewis, Johanna, and Alice, by getting 3 promotions, by gaining another 2 levels of skill on the piano, and by getting 1000 satisfaction points.

[oshizu]

It's great to read your latest progress on this challenge!
While Ojo seems to be making smooth progress, his daily life now seems a lot less carefree and fun-filled than his father's.
Sleep-deprivation, weight gain, stress....Ojo, I feel for you, I really do! Great job on your first 10 points and free day!

Watcher, I like what you've chosen for Olivia's hair!

[JonMom2009]

Very good story. This challenge seems doable!

I love Johanna's hair!


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