The Allen Invasion, Chapter Six

Welp, apparently I can manage about two updates before I tucker out. In reality, life got in my way in several big ways (good: new apartment opportunity caused a sudden move; bad: two ER visits, a bad fall resulting in injury, and an ongoing health scare; neutral: school as always) but I am taking this small breather of winter break to get caught up. To my surprise, this is the only chapter I had ready to go, so I actually get to play to catch up more on all my legacies and joint legacies, so that's kind of fun. I appreciate anyone who is still reading these despite my erratic updating schedule. <3 <3 <3

Anyway, we left last chapter with our dueling heirs (Aspen and Brady, above) each having a new spouse, a new toddler, and with both Brady's wife, Ava, and Aspen pregnant. Let's get to it . . .

I mentioned last chapter that I'm slowly upgrading the penthouse, so we'll start to see some of that this chapter. Why I took this picture in the night is a bit of a mystery, but you can see the kids' playground up top and the toddler playground bottom right.

The next morning, Sasha immediately broke in the water slide that I put there for CHILDREN, but sure, go ahead. You've earned it, I guess.

Of course, karma did get her back for slacking off when she got back to work. Luckily no laundry machines were harmed in this fire. Oh, Sasha? She'll shake it off, I'm sure.

Wendy . . . sigh. You guys are going to make me take this away like the Gregorys losing their ice cream privileges, aren't you?

Just in case I do have to revoke it, here is the walking-stone-full kids' playground for posterity.

Eliza: "Are you sure this is strictly necessary?"
Aspen: "Someone around here is spreading contagion that taints the experiments, and I need to get to the bottom of the infection."
Eliza: "Have you looked in a mirror recently?"
Aspen: "Of course not; I already know I'm perfect."

This is my favorite career in the game. I really have more fun with this than is probably a flattering thing to admit. Charlene, here, however? No fun whatsoever.

While Aspen is livin' up the scientist life, she goes into labor. I had hoped she might make it through the day, but I miscalculated.

Aspen was offered a ride by a coworker and passed two city busses, but she furiously stomped across town here to the hospital herself, determined to do things the "child-hating way," whatever that means. Mike somehow managed to break off his workout to meet her. At least I think that's his workout wear? It's been so long and the sandals are confusing me. Maybe it's hot weather. I dunno.

Aspen: "Oh God, it's you."
Dr. Alien Enthusiast: :D :D :D

Mike: "Agh! Aspen! He says the baby's coming! What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO???"
Aspen: "I know, Mike. Just wait here with me. I could really use your support. And I've done this once before. It'll be fine as long as I have you here with me."

Aspen: "Sigh."

Aspen: "You know, I really don't do this non-anger emotion and sim-to-sim connection thing very often, and this is why."

Dr. Alien Enthusiast: "So did you want your offspring, or . . .? I could probably arrange . . ."
Aspen: "Nah, just drop the bundle right there. I'll get it on my way out. Sew me up, doc."

Luckily Mike and Aspen made up before leaving the hospital. Maxis really thinks fathers-to-be are the most useless beings on the planet, I guess.

Wait, I take that back. Wendy is being recalled for examination at the mothership again.

Wendy: "I didn't even do anything wrong this time!"

You're wearing something besides everyday. I'm going to find five piles of laundry when I look around, aren't I?

Wendy: "Well, the punishment hardly fits the crime."

We'll let the mothership be the judge of that.

With Wendy abducted and all four of the gen. 2 couples absolutely exhausted, it falls to Sasha to care for the new twins. Yes, twins. Yes, they're blue. Ugh. Meet Felix and Fritz, two little boys.

Wendy: "I'm back and I'm going to go change into my pjs, throwing this pile of clothes on the floor. I have learned nothing and I regret even less."

Yeah, ok.

After a good night's sleep, Brady is enjoying the greenhouse on a dreary day as he plants the cowplant he needs for his aspiration.

Speaking of cowplants, we've got some awesome decorations courtesy of Sasha, Aspen, and all the babies born in this legacy so far. I like to make the entryway as intimidating as possible to really give the right message to guests. I hope it outweighs the competing message of "we haven't bought any wallpaper yet."

Less than a day after Felix and Fritz have joined the family, Ava goes into labor. Things were getting a little crazy, so that's why the pictures are kind of sparse from here on out for the most part.

Nurse: "I'm ready! Where's the patient?"
Brady: "I don't know. I stopped to dance and now I lost her."

Despite more fatherly incompetence, Ava gives birth . . .

. . . to two more boys, but this time they're purple, not blue! Hallelujah! Welcome to Gulliver and Gustavo, for whom I had to hit the die forever because it didn't want to give me non-dorky G names and I'm not saying I found any, but I tried my best.

Incidentally, this gives us six potential heirs for generation three, three for each dueling heir. As a reminder, Brady and Aspen's bet means that the parent of whichever child is chosen as heir for gen. 3 will be crowned the "real heir" for gen. 2 and the other family will move out after the poll to spare my sanity. With six children and six adults currently, it is going to be sorely tested to make it to that point however. Remember that December and Emery are still only toddlers.

And we add the new birth certificates. I eventually shifted the skeleton up a few notches so it was standing in the chamber.

To celebrate the birth of the final children of generation three, I took a break for a little decorating. The kitchen has a high-contrast look.

While the dining room is looking regal in red and gold.

A random sim bathing his niece? Hey, with this household, I just grab whoever is available for necessary tasks.

The cowplant has sprouted!

And Aspen is back to work, pushing her questionable serums on coworkers. Her kill rate is much, much lower than Faye Gregory's so far, so maybe we've got some potential with the serums this go round.

Aspen: "You see, you just toss from the head with a little twist."
Mike: "Yeah, I don't think that's right."
Aspen: "Mike, I'm their mother. I think I would know."

Despite an acrobatic entrance into the world of no longer being objects, Felix and Fritz are safely revealed to be completely identical little cutie pies with Aspen's hair. They're instantly friends, which is sweet.

So, you can tell Felix is Aspen's child. He'll be an inquisitive toddler, and a creative artistic prodigy as a child, which is a good start in life. But, like his older sister December, he will pick up the familial teen child hating trait and also a possibly unhealthy interest in fish. Finally, as an adult, he'll be neat. It's nice to see some of Sasha's traits continue into this generation.

And Fritz is his own brand of messed up too. Mostly, he's going to have an anger problem. Despite an angelic beginning, we'll have our hands full with an evil rambunctious scamp. As a teen, he will dabble in being productive with the neat trait and Bestselling Author aspiration, but then it's right back to hot-headed as an adult. Aspen's children are special.

Again I celebrate with decorating. The main room on the lower floor got a major makeover. There's a partial dividing wall in the middle separating two spaces in the same room, since it was cavernously large. On this side, closer to the pool and the entrance, we have a swanky home theater.

And on the other side of the wall we have what I'm calling the "book club nook" because with all the mismatched seating it reminds me of my favorite local bookstore. Although they use a lot less marble and gold, I have to admit. You'll also notice our knight. That is indeed the one purchased as part of the legacy challenge, but it still fulfills its function as it adds to the bills here, but is enclosed in a glass box, so no one can benefit from its environment score. And honestly we're not going to have a problem with bills being too low.

Aspen went on her own to hug her daughter in the rather psychedelic toddler playground area, and that was noteworthy enough for a picture.

She then went and completed a collection, finishing the Curator aspiration.

Aspen: "Suck it, Brady. First one in gen 2!"

Well, you did have a head start and an easy aspiration.

Aspen: "Yeah, I sure planned well."

Oh, never mind. I have no idea what I switched it to because I apparently didn't take notes of it and my save files are in storage right now.

Here's the elements collection she completed. It helps to be a scientist and get paid to dig up the plentiful rocks outside your workplace that thoughtfully respawn each and every workday.

Emery: "Grammy, why are boys?"
Wendy: "Honestly, as a lesbian, I've never really figured that out, honey."

The twins are holy terrors. Their traits say otherwise, but don't let that fool you. They are always together and always tearing around causing mischief when I'm not looking, and the girl toddlers are not very fond of them so far.

Therefore we are completely justified in queueing up more chaos. Brady and Ava's twins grow up in the middle of the night while everyone but Wendy is sleeping, so she takes them on one at a time.

Aww! Love it! Gulliver and Gustavo are not identical for sure, but they are cuties!

Gulliver has an interesting personality. As a toddler, he'll prefer to do things alone, but as a child he'll be a social butterfly and take after his dad in loving art. As a teen he'll become a perfectionistic aspiring celebrity (in what? that remains to be decided...), and adulthood will find him back where he started in terms of being a loner, perhaps turning him into a reclusive artist that eschews his celebrity. Like I said, interesting.

Gustavo starts as a charmer, but he will also be a social butterfly in childhood, as well as cheerful. The happiness hits just keep on coming as his teen years will find him being romantic like his mom and wishing to be Friend of the World. Finally, just in time for his own, he'll be family-oriented as an adult. This personality is so well-adjusted I'm wondering if they sent the right baby home from the hospital. I'm not sure I know how to play a sim with all positive traits.

Okay, game, I may be a toddler hoarder but no need to call me out like that.

Honestly, though, do not recommend six toddlers at once. 0/10, will probably do it again because I don't learn from my mistakes.

Anyway, now that I have six toddlers, I wanted to take a moment to appreciate them being cute, since that's what they do best. Here's December, Aspen and Mike's oldest.

And her inquisitive cousin Emery, Brady and Ava's oldest.

Skipping Aspen's twins for a moment, here's our future celebrity, Gulliver. He's certainly got a face for it.

And his twin Gustavo, looking a little worried at the moment but also completely adorable.

As for Felix and Fritz? Like I said, they are hell-raisers and I'm going to blame that for my failure to take individual pics of them like the above. Every picture I have of them besides the CAS pics, they are in the same one in their PJs, usually running around in the background and not looking at the camera. Eating fish tacos keeps them momentarily occupied. They are so cute in their twin-y matching fruit shirts (Felix is watermelon and Fritz is orange), coordinated diapers and stripy socks, and bunny slippers. Please forgive me and don't hold the exclusion against me, boys. I tried.

Sasha: "I feel like we've come so far, and I just love living in a household full of my descendants. It's a dream."

Wendy: "Time feels like it's gone so fast, though. Just the other day I was meeting you and moving in to an empty roof where we raised children with no walls and toddlers didn't exist. Sometimes it feels like the changes are just an illusion. Has our world really changed so much from those days?"

Sasha: "Eh, things are a little different now."

December: "Outta my way, Felix! It's birthday time for the first and best child."
Felix: "Goo?"
December: "That's right, and don't you forget it."

The toddler room got decorated for December and Emery in pastels, but December's not going to spend much time in it. It only has two beds set up, so all the boys are sleeping in the future gym next door and come over to play with the toys.

Happy birthday, December! Your birthday could not have come at a better time because with six toddlers, there is no down time in this house (it's impossible to keep all six on a schedule) and I'm beyond stressed. Mike had to work but everyone else made it for the party in the new kitchen.

December: "For my personality, I'm going to love plants and I picked a pretty flower crown and..."

Already been done. Emery got there first as a toddler. Try again.

December: "Oh, fine. I guess I love art and talking to people? Idk. I didn't prepare a backup."

I'm sure something will bubble to the surface when I play again. I mean, Aspen's firstborn? She'll be memorable. I'd bet on it.

So here's December. She looks vaguely angry even in her neutral face, which is kind of perfect. Also, I too have a tacocat shirt, but mine has a speech bubble that says "I'm a palindrome!" So dorky is kind of my defining personality. Keep trying, December. You'll figure it out.

And here we see all the Allen ladies that are out of diapers (sorry, Emery!). A lovely-looking bunch in their partywear. This is the end of my pics for now, so it seems like a good place to stop. I'm working on getting my files on my laptop and hopefully I'll stay out of the ER this quarter so I don't get behind and get absolutely no play time. I have some joint legacy turns coming up, but I'll be back to this family for sure. I just love them to pieces and they are so quirky. Plus there is a lot of decorating left to do in the penthouse!

Thanks for reading, and check back another time for more updates. Message me at Boolprop if you'd like! Have a very Happy New Year!! :D