Author Topic: A Bunch of Flowers (A ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ Project)  (Read 78150 times)


Offline Ausette

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I'm planning to revive/rejuvenate some of the kids after the end of the challenge and let Ally have grandchildren.  Iris will definitely be in that group.

That sounds great! Please consider including Fluellen. He's getting more hilariously adorable with every update. :D




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Offline hazelnut

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Re: A Bunch of Flowers (A ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ Project)
« Reply #77 on: September 02, 2015, 04:38:34 PM »
I love Oleander's hair. That's going to be one pretty, creepy baby.

Me too.  I love that dark blue/purple shade.  I'm considering relaxing my usual rules and giving the baby his hair colour even if he/she doesn't inherit it naturally.

Poor Oleander...I think he knows what his future holds... :o

I think he's just trying to make me feel guilty.  Guiltier.

I'm planning to revive/rejuvenate some of the kids after the end of the challenge and let Ally have grandchildren.  Iris will definitely be in that group.

That sounds great! Please consider including Fluellen. He's getting more hilariously adorable with every update. :D

Oh, I already am :).  He's really grown on me recently.  I rather regret the unkind remarks about being a weird-looking toddler even though he was.



Vampire Lover

I said a couple of chapters back that I had two Bridgeport men in mind as future fathers.  Sadly, one of them died of old age before there was space in the house for the next child.  On the other hand, maybe it’s just as well – I was beginning to think this story should be renamed ‘All the Als’.  As well as Alison herself, we’ve already had Alec, Alan and Al.  Alexy Fresco as Culinary Dad would just have added to the confusion.

There have been a lot of deaths recently.  Fluellen and Lotus lost their fathers to old age on the same day.  In fact, Grim must have been insanely busy that day – the pop-up notifications seemed to include half the population of Al Simhara.

The other potential father, however, was still going strong, as undead as ever.  I’d originally favoured Wogan Hemlock as Vampire Dad, because he’s nice-looking and has decent traits, even though it would have meant temporarily dissolving his marriage to Morrigan.  That became an even more uncomfortable prospect when the Hemlocks became close family friends of the Flowers'.  However, by then another candidate had put himself forward.  He’d first visited the family soon after their arrival in Bridgeport, when Billy invited all of his criminal colleagues over.

121.Vlad.jpg

Like everyone else, Vladimir was attracted to Ally.  (Incidentally, I love the way his speech bubble’s moved up to clear his umbrella.)

A real character, this one.  He’d only been in the house a few minutes when this happened:

122.Hypnosis.jpg

“Look into my eyes.  Your bladder is filling.  You have to go… right now.”

(Seriously, what is that interaction?  I assume Ally’s need to pee was entirely coincidental.)

While she was busy in the bathroom, he went into the sauna and made himself at home.

123.Right_at_home.jpg

He hung around for ages after the other guests had left, wandering around the house and trying everything out.

124.Vlad.jpg

He even got out a screwdriver and looked as though he was about to sabotage the science station, until I sent Billy to interrupt him.  Someone so determined to barge his way into the story really deserved to contribute to the family gene pool, even without considering his astonishing muscle definition.

What?!  I’m not leering, just admiring him as an anatomical specimen.  Honest  :P.



After Edelweiss had moved out and the other kids had gone to school, Ally invited Vladimir over.  This time, she’d be the one doing the hypnotising.

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Aw!  He may be evil and a professional thug but Vladimir obviously has a soft centre.

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He didn’t take much persuading…

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…and the heart bed again lived up to its reputation.  Well, mostly.  There weren’t any chimes but the option to ‘Try for Baby’ was greyed out after the first attempt, which seemed like a good sign.

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They parted amicably and Ally went back to housework, gardening and helping children with their homework – until the nausea struck.  You’d think she’d be used to it by now.

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Or maybe it wasn’t just that.

“Watcher?  Are you still there?”
“Yes, of course.  It’s kind of implied by the term ‘watcher’, really.”
“Don’t you get sarcastic with me!  I’m having pregnancy mood swings, I’m throwing up every two hours and now I’ve realised this baby might be a vampire.”
Almost certainly, judging from what I’ve read.
“And you know what happens to mortals who have vampire babies, don’t you?  Horrible things.  I’ll end up having to become a vampire myself just to survive.  What about your precious challenge then?”
Oh dear.  I ought to have guessed she wouldn’t go in for Serious Literature.
“Erm, I’m not so sure you should rely on fiction.  It’s probably nothing like that really.  Tell you what, why don’t you go and have a chat with Morrigan?  I think she was probably already a vampire when she had Belisama but she used to be human…”
And thank goodness that baby you’re carrying isn’t her husband’s after all.
“…And I happen to know that she’s BFFs with Elvira Slayer, the senior consultant at Sacred Spleen, who must be an expert in vampire obstetrics.”



Panic and upchucking over, Ally settled into her usual late-pregnancy routine of flirting with Billy.

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Once again, she went into labour while gardening.  Giving birth under the sprinklers didn’t seem like such a good idea this time, though.

131.Labour.jpg

She insisted on driving to the hospital.  Well, the Speedster had been her celebrity gift, not Billy’s.  And she probably didn’t want to give him a chance to escape.  I wasn’t watching the traffic lights but I’m prepared to bet she wasn’t letting little things like red lights stop her.

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She turned around as they reached the entrance, just daring Billy to run off and desert her again.

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The glare must have been effective.  He followed her meekly into the hospital.

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Vladimir arrived soon after. It appears that vampires are as conscientious as fairies when it comes to paternal duties.

He stood outside the door for a while, repeatedly opening and closing his umbrella.  Well, attending the birth of your child together with your best friend, who just happens to be married to the mother, is an awkward enough social situation to make anyone hesitate.  As he put up his brolly for the last time and headed indoors, Jun Xu appeared behind him.  She was in a tearing hurry.  Was she late for her shift?

135.Hospital.jpg

Then Elvira Slayer came running up behind her.  Maybe they’d both been caught in the same traffic jam.

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But if the staff were only just arriving, who was looking after Ally?



Either she managed on her own or the hospital had other members of staff who were never seen around town.  Ally emerged with her newborn baby before Elvira had reached the doors.

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If looks could kill the undead…

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As she carried her son out to the car, she yelled out her frustration with the medical profession (and possibly watchers.  I didn't like to ask).

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The next baby was definitely going to be born at home.

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Another uncomfortable ride in the limo followed…

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…but at last she was home and could give baby Nightshade his first cuddle.

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My first vampboo.  Yay!  And his favourite colour is red – although I’m not at all sure about Beach Party as his favourite music  ???.

I’ve never seen Ally look as furious as she did on her way out of the hospital, even when dealing with truanting children  :-\.  I choose to think that it was connected with Xun and Elvira’s late arrival.

Offline Alex

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Not sure whether it's the fangs or the eyebrows, but Vladimir's soft centre looks terrifying!

Congats on the vampboo!

Offline Ausette

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“Look into my eyes.  Your bladder is filling.  You have to go… right now.”

(Seriously, what is that interaction?  I assume Ally’s need to pee was entirely coincidental.)

My theory: Vampires have the ability to control their victims' kidneys. They can use this power to filter water from the blood and make richer, tastier blood for the vampire to enjoy.

I'm glad Vladimir got to be the father; he seems to be quite the character! I just love Nightshade as a name. Had he been a girl I would have suggested Belladonna.

Offline hazelnut

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Not sure whether it's the fangs or the eyebrows, but Vladimir's soft centre looks terrifying!

Congats on the vampboo!

All things are relative, I suppose :)  And thanks.

“Look into my eyes.  Your bladder is filling.  You have to go… right now.”

(Seriously, what is that interaction?  I assume Ally’s need to pee was entirely coincidental.)

My theory: Vampires have the ability to control their victims' kidneys. They can use this power to filter water from the blood and make richer, tastier blood for the vampire to enjoy.

That makes perfect sense :)

I'm glad Vladimir got to be the father; he seems to be quite the character!

I always like it when Sims do interesting things autonomously.  He was a prime example, acting as though everything in the house was there just for his benefit.  Kind of like the vampire equivalent of a cat, really  ;).

I just love Nightshade as a name. Had he been a girl I would have suggested Belladonna.

Have you been reading my names list?  He would indeed have been Belladonna if Ally had wanted a girl this time.

Offline hazelnut

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Scary Stuff

WARNING: This is the chapter with the eww! part.  Those of a delicate disposition might want to skip it.

However, we start with some Zinnia spam, because this kid is cute.

143.Zinnia.jpg

She’s a bot fan.  It's a trait I've only played with briefly.

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She’s also perceptive.  I knew that brave children were obsessed with checking for bed monsters; I didn’t know that perceptive ones were as well.  On one occasion, she was so terrified she fainted  :o.  I’ve not seen that before.

145.Faint.jpg

She flatly refused to go back to bed and spent the rest of the night in the rocking chair.

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Her doll, Dandelion, has become a fully-fledged imaginary friend.  Fluellen was passing when it happened and, naturally, suspected that something was going on.

147.Dandelion.jpg

Dan will almost certainly the last IF in the family.   I’m intending to put the dolls into the adults’ inventories from now on and then give them away to friends at the first opportunity.

Valerian had another early birthday.

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He aged up with the same hairstyle as his father and I let him keep it: it seemed to suit his face better than any of the alternatives.

149.YA_Val.jpg

Val joined the police force and moved out, which meant there was room in the household for another baby.



This is your last chance to bail out.  Scroll down to the next horizontal line.  Come to think of it, don’t – there’s a screenshot at the end that’s not for the faint-hearted  :P.  Just wait for the next update.

Oleander had picked up happiness points far faster than I’d expected and reached the top of the rebel social group a day before Val’s birthday, so he had a cake as soon as the space opened up in the household.

150.Oleander_YA_BD.jpg

Is it just me, or is there something slightly predatory about Ally’s cheering?

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He gained the hopeless romantic trait and a random new outfit that seemed pretty well suited to helping him make the most of it.

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He was offered a job in art appraisal as soon as the sparkles had stopped swirling – and announced to all and sundry that his new boss (a woman I was almost certain he’d never met) was seriously hot and he couldn’t wait to start work the following morning.

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Oh, Oleander.  I like you more and more.

He went off for a fairly minimal makeover – just a recolour of the clothes he’d aged up in, plus a lot of other outfits that he’ll probably never use.

154.YA_Oleander.jpg

Then (and I swear this was nothing to do with me), he made his way to the art studio.  No big surprise, really – his social group trait was artistic.  It was the default option and I accepted it.  Ally, who was in the middle of one of her periodic fits of enthusiasm for painting, was already there.

“Wow, Mrs Fl-  Alison.  You’re looking very attractive.”

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I have to say he was right.  I think that was the work uniform for whatever her self-employed career was at the time.  That hairstyle really suits her.

Well, yes, um… I think we can draw a discreet veil over the next hour or two.

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Suffice it to say that a couple of days later, Ally looked like this:

157.Pregnant.jpg



Anyone who’s been reading with their eyes closed can open them again at this point.

There was a double birthday: Fluellen and Queen Lotus completed their respective requirements on the same day.

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Flu, I’m sorry I ever quibbled about your looks.  You’ve been an absolute joy to have in the house.  (And wow! you were happy, despite the disappointment over Flax.  50k+ LTHPs already?!)

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He left his school stuff behind and moved out.

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I wonder how much Lotus will enjoy being a teen?  No more Presiding Over the Royal Court.  I’ve hardly seen her in normal clothes since she was a toddler.

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Also, what happened to her looks?  When she was little, I was pretty sure she had Hassan’s nose and quite possibly most of his other facial features.  Now she seems to have become a darker version of Ally.

The following evening, Lotus went to Prom and somehow managed to be voted Queen despite having only just started high school and only knowing one other pupil.  Obviously they'd heard about all that childhood practice.  She travelled home by Tube – I’m pretty sure this was the only time anyone in the family used the subway system.

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And Ally had the baby whose parentage we don’t want to think about too much.  For only the second time in the game, she'd not expressed a preference for a girl or boy, so this was a fruit-free pregnancy.

The baby was born at home.  Of course.

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And it’s a girl!

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She was named Bluebell, in anticipation of her hoped-for hair colour.



Bridgeport had been becoming increasingly buggy recently – I'd had a couple of Error 12s despite a factory reset and Overwatch was finding silly numbers of cars to delete at 3am each day.  Over three thousand?  Really?!  There were few original townies left apart from the vampires.  The last straw was losing Mick Situp, Zinnia’s dad.

The best solution seemed to be to move to another town.  Since Nightshade was about to age up, they waited until after midnight so that he could have a cake.

165.Nightshade_toddler.jpg

Yikes!  That is one scary toddler.  I assume that’s the vampified version of Ally’s eye colour.

And then, once the cake was eaten, they packed up and left Bridgeport for somewhere with clearer air and a healthcare system more in keeping with Ally’s holistic New Age beliefs.

166.New_house.jpg



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Offline Roxanne07

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Great update! I kept my eyes open but I'm glad I didn't get to see much! ( definitely saw less than I expected to  :P )

Bridgeport can be troublesome, I'm thrilled to see them in the new town!  :)


Offline KRae

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I'm not sure if Oleander aging up in that shirt made it more ew or less ew. I need to stop thinking about this now. Just look at the flowers, KRae.

Offline hazelnut

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Great update! I kept my eyes open but I'm glad I didn't get to see much! ( definitely saw less than I expected to  :P )

Bridgeport can be troublesome, I'm thrilled to see them in the new town!  :)

Thanks :).

I'm looking forward to exploring Bridgeport properly with the Haskills - living in the city centre and playing with clubs, mixology, bands etc.  It's not ideally suited to a quiet suburban-type life bringing up loads of kids  :-\.  Also, it was irritatingly dark all the time, which I've also found in some Twinbrook games since the Seasons patch.  Hopefully the weather will be better next time.

Yuck!!! Poor Oleander :(

I rather like Nightshade. Maybe it's the outfit, but he's cute.

I know :(  :-[.

Glad someone likes him :).  Cute's not exactly the word I'd use - although I didn't do him any favours by leaving him with the hairstyle he aged up in.  He does look better with more hair.  That hard stare of his is very disconcerting but I suppose that's my fault for giving him the evil trait.

I'm not sure if Oleander aging up in that shirt made it more ew or less ew.

Nor me  :-\.  Her next relationship is more age-appropriate, I promise.  (Although technically, Ally was younger than Oleander at the time, thanks to the magic of ambrosia.  No, that doesn't make it any better, does it?)

I need to stop thinking about this now. Just look at the flowers, KRae.

:D

Offline hazelnut

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Re: A Bunch of Flowers (A ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ Project)
« Reply #86 on: September 05, 2015, 11:13:46 AM »
Welcome to Hidden Springs

Bluebell is Ally’s twentieth child, so I was hoping for a new badge.  Nope.  In fact, when I checked, the badge is actually for fifteen children, not twenty, so it should have triggered a while back.  Maybe they all have to be alive to count.

Sage was now the eldest living Flower child.  Gromwell had lived for a surprisingly long time – well into the family’s stay in Bridgeport – but all of the kids without the benefit of the inherited genie wish had now died.  Again, I moved all of the family, including tombstones, to the new town.

The game is still set to 28-day years consisting entirely of summer, although I may change that as the end of the game approaches and getting kids through school quickly becomes less important.

I don’t think I’ve commented on the supernatural settings before, although it’s probably obvious that all life states were enabled in Riverview and Barnacle Bay.  In Bridgeport, I switched off everything except vampires.  (There were probably also a few mermaids around town but I never noticed them.)  This time, there will be fairies and witches, because they seem to suit the town.  I’ve added the gypsy caravan and arboretum – and also the pet shop.  It may well never appear in the story but it’s there because there was an empty space after I’d deleted Varg’s tavern and it seemed to fit in.



…And so the Flowers moved to Hidden Springs, which will hopefully be the last town for this game.

Since I wasn’t in a building mood, the house moved with them again, merely getting a slight recolour and some different trees.

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As usual, Alison spent the first day charging around town renewing her charisma challenges.  This time, she also made sure to befriend a couple of the local doctors.

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Reassured that Emmaline Rhoen’s views on medicine aligned so well with her own that she might even be persuaded to have the next baby in hospital, she went off in search of a father for said baby.  Simon Cho seemed like a distinct possibility – apart from being married.  Alisha wasn’t likely to be as tolerant as Billy.

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She ran into three of her grown-up children in town.  Iris had become a stylist (so now we know who to blame for the weird townie outfits) and Sage was running the consignment store.  I hope there are plenty of interesting books in stock for him to read while waiting for customers.

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Edelweiss, unexpectedly, had taken to embarrassing herself in public.

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I’m almost certain she wasn’t a rebel when she left home.  I wonder what she’s been doing in the meantime?

That evening, there was a birthday – a surprising one.  Bluebell aged up to toddler on only her second day of life.  What was going on?  Maybe it was a glitch caused by the move – except that the number of days left before her next birthday also fitted with an unmodified medium lifespan.  Odd.

She grew up bald and then had pathing issues with the first mirror I sent her to, prolonging the suspense about whose hair she’d inherited.  Eventually she agreed to ‘change appearance’ – and she was blonde.  Rats!  Since Oleander’s hair colour was his only interesting feature, I interfered with the genetics for once and dyed Bluebell’s hair to match his.

172.Toddler_Bluebell.jpg

Billy had temporarily joined the business career and now Ally signed up with the HSPD in search of another father.  Weirdly, Valerian was her boss and immediately started on ‘we have so much in common' and wanting to get to know her better.  Val, she’s your mother!  Clearly, the ew! factor is inherited.

I’d been rather hoping she’d meet Sebastian Vanderburg but Bruce Chesterfield was assigned as her partner.  In fact, he might even be a better choice for Police Dad – as a mature single parent, he’d obviously seen life and was less likely than an impressionable young prince to be shocked by Ally’s lifestyle.  After a single day on patrol together, they were best friends.

The two toddlers had been left in the care of a moderately competent babysitter.  Annie Tong might be more interested in texting friends than changing nappies but at least she put the kids in the playpen together before she pulled out her phone.

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(Note to self: hang some curtains in that room!)

Ally invited Bruce over after work ‘to get better acquainted’.  Come on, you’re already best friends.  Who’s going to believe that line?

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Maybe Bruce is more gullible than I’d thought.

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OK.  I suppose that does count as a closer relationship.

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And that certainly does.

Ally handed in her notice that same evening – going out on the beat while throwing up is no joke.  Anyway, her youngest children needed her.  Bluebell would be ageing up again all too soon and I wanted to keep Nightshade as her older brother for as long as possible – which meant that both needed to learn their toddler skills quickly.

The following day, Ally’s latest pregnancy was confirmed…

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…and Zinnia became a teenager.

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So did Dandelion – and Zinnia immediately wished to become BFFs with him.

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Nightshade went from being a scary toddler…

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…to a slightly-less-scary child.

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In fact, a lot less scary once he discovered the games console…

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…and the dressing-up box.

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When everyone else was at school or work the next morning, Ally helped Bluebell blow out her candles.

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She experimented briefly with her other form and then ran downstairs to try out the new basement dance studio.

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That evening, she acquired a little sister.  Ally let Billy drive her to the Rudolph Vanderburg and actually seemed happy as she left.

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Although I managed to miss his arrival, Bruce was there for the birth.

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Unlike the other fathers, who’d ridden home in the limo with the Flowers but then hung around awkwardly outside the house before discovering pressing business elsewhere, Bruce not only went inside with Alison and Billy but cuddled his new daughter and played football with the older kids before he left.

I think life in Hidden Springs is going to suit Ally.



Incidentally, it looks as though Tiger Lily has inherited the extended lifespan, so poor little Bluebell is probably going to be the only short-lifer in the family.

Offline Alex

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Is it that the longer life wish has been over-ridden by the imaginary friend lifespan? At least Bluebell's got gorgeous turnout (although I'm a bit concerned about her knees).

I like Nightshade even better now I've seen his teddy bear :D

Offline Malley

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Nightshade was kind of a frightening/adorable toddler, especially in that last shot before he aged up. The IF hair really seems to fit Bluebell. Hooray for interfering with genetics  ;)

Offline Roxanne07

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Welcome, new nooboo! Sims babysitters are such great help, aren't they  :P

It's nice to see Ally's kids in town! Well, apart from the *coughs* complications!

 

anything