Suburban Bliss IV: Moving On
Previously: There was was a freak dryer fire, but everyone made it out alive. Then the family went out to enjoy a day of dog-training and a night of art-viewing/city nostalgia (to mixed results) before both beloved family dog, Waffle, and beloved family dad, Salim, passed way.
Now that Salim is gone, Maki has taken up responsibility for tending his modest garden.
There are some responsibilities she'd much rather place on others, though, like fixing the sink when the faucets decide to go all haywire.
She may be older now, but she's still her kooky old self, falling asleep on random community benches like she hasn't a care in the world.
She's also still fully committed to turning her daughters into early patrons of the arts and decides to take them on a family field trip to the museum on Deadgrass Isle to see some fine nautical paintings.
Olive: Mom, I thought you said we were going someplace fun. This doesn't look very fun.
Maki refuses to let any protests from the twins ruin her appreciation of the beautiful art on display here.
Ivy: I don't know. I guess they are kind of nice.
Olive: Ugh, don't tell me you're turning to the dark side, too. Everything here is so boring!
She changes her tune a bit when she catches sight of the paintings featuring cats. All of a sudden, she's over the moon and wants gift shop reproductions for her bedroom at home.
Oh, okay, ghost Salim. Is it getting a bit lonely in the afterlife? I hope he's okay with the kids tagging along.
Olive, ever the skeptic, thinks it's pretty weird to go out to dinner with your dead dad like it's something totally normal that happens every day.
I'm choosing to believe she's misbehaving out of confusion rather than an actual desire to be bad. Mostly, I'm quite concerned that this restaurant's kitchen is so easily accessible to its patrons. Anyone could just up and waltz in there with no problem.
Salim: Mmm, yes, the flavors in this dish are absolutely exquisite!
Olive: How can you even taste anything? You're dead.
Maki: Honey, don't speak to your father in that tone.
Back home, it's time for the girls' birthday. Unfortunately, Salim couldn't accompany them, but Maki does her best to provide an adequate amount of birthday spirit for the both of them.
Here's teenage Ivy. She must have sneaked out and gotten her hair dyed while no one was looking.
Here's Olive, who really wishes I would've waited for a better moment to showcase her than when she's about to go to town on that plate of food.
Calm down, Olive, you're, like, a day into being a teenager. I think you can hold your horses on taking on the responsibilities of adulthood for a while longer.
Maki compromises by letting her adopt a kitten and take on all the responsibilities that come with pet parenthood.
Her childhood dream of being a cat owner, fulfilled. The kitten's name is Leah because that's what it was when they adopted her and I couldn't think of anything better to change it to.
Olive is absolutely hysterical with excitement about her new pet.
Leah looks so tiny on this huge pet pillow. By the way, is it just me, or do pets choose to sleep anywhere but their pillow 99.9% of the time? I feel like I can never get them to actually consistently use the thing.
Come on, Maki, I know that using public restrooms isn't the greatest experience in the world, but was it really that bad?
Oh... Shit. I guess it was that bad. Now I just feel awful that her last memory in life will be of the insides of a public toilet stall.
Christ, this is really depressing! No one cares that this woman's soul is being reaped right in front of them! Have some respect for the dead, people!
Ivy: Yeah, so... I guess our mom just died. Can we come over? We don't really know what do.
Between the four of them, these kids have really experienced more than their fair share of grief lately. Hopefully, they can serve as shoulders for each other to cry on in these trying times.
The girls locate their mother's urn so that they can properly grieve and transport her back to Brindleton Bay where she deserves to rest alongside her husband.
Then they pick up Leah, pack up their things, and head back to the city to stay with Nico and Willow until they're old enough to strike out on their own. They may not technically be related, but they're the closest thing to family the girls have got left other than Phoebe, who's already got a pretty full house.
Nico, who was always an ambitious student himself, only has one rule for the twins as long as they're staying with him: keep up those grades. Olive doesn't look too thrilled to be doing her homework, despite his eager encouragement.
A quick peek or two at Simstagram once she's finally left alone can't possibly hurt, though.
Olive: Ugh, school is so boring. How can you possibly like doing this stuff?
Ivy: Come on, it isn't so bad! Besides, Mom and Dad would have wanted us to do our best.
Honestly, Ivy and Nico get along quite well considering their shared love of chess and all other things nerdy.
Leah is settling in nicely, too. She's grown into an adult cat quickly and has decided that the top of the refrigerator is her favorite spot in the apartment. Don't ask me how she got up there or how she's going to get down.
Willow has suddenly gotten it into her head that she wants to be a stand-up comedian, so everyone heads out to support her at first "gig." Unfortunately, she seems to have come down with an inconveniently-timed spiral disease relapse just before she's set to go on.
Olive: Hold on, we're trying to WebMD it, but the reception is terrible around here.
What a trooper. She still takes the microphone in spite of whatever weird alien chicken pox she's got going on.
Ivy: Hahaha, oh my God, you are so funny!
Olive: Come on, sis, be honest. She's never going to grow if you keep praising mediocrity.
Unfortunately, she didn't seem to capture anyone else's attention, so I guess it's back to the drawing board for a new routine. At least she put herself out there, though!
If you were wondering where Nico was, he got distracted by frog hunting and missed the whole performance.
Nico: Ugh, it is so hot out here! I'm burning up!
Yeah, it's the desert, buddy. I feel like this is kind of on you for wearing full winter gear while engaging in strenuous activity.
Random Old Lady: Looks like someone isn't as cut out for the desert climate as they thought they were!
Listen, woman, no one asked you. Stay out of it, and let Nico drink his ice cold water in peace!
Olive has recruited Willow to be her new workout buddy, but, judging by the entirely unexcited look on her face, I don't think Willow had much say in the matter.
Olive: Isn't working out awesome?!? It's such an adrenaline rush!
Willow: Uh, maybe if you have an entirely warped definition of the word "awesome."
Willow: You know what I'd call awesome? This pizza.
A lady after my own heart.
Willow: Please tell me you're not eating the birthday cake you promised you'd make me before I've even had my birthday.
Nico: *chuckles nervously* No! What on earth would make you think that? *long awkward pause* I'll make you a new one, I swear.
Nico: Look, I made another cake! Everything is perfect! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Willow: Nice try, but you can't just take back what you and I both know.
Damn it, Leah, stop eating Willow's back-up birthday cake! I don't think Nico could handle having to whip up a third one.
That awkward moment when you go to blow out the birthday candles and instead come face-to-face with a big old whiff of cat breath.
Willow: Well, that's it, I guess I'm another year older now. No one should probably go near that cake unless they enjoy the taste of cat drool.
And with that, we bid adieu to Olive, Ivy, Nico, and Willow as main characters and let them populate the background of Phoebe's story instead. I promise I tried to get more into them. I actually had a ton more pictures from these attempts, but they were so uninteresting I had no idea what to do with them and ended up tossing them out. I'm sure they're all lovely Sims. Sometimes it just doesn't work out.
Now that Salim is gone, Maki has taken up responsibility for tending his modest garden.
There are some responsibilities she'd much rather place on others, though, like fixing the sink when the faucets decide to go all haywire.
She may be older now, but she's still her kooky old self, falling asleep on random community benches like she hasn't a care in the world.
She's also still fully committed to turning her daughters into early patrons of the arts and decides to take them on a family field trip to the museum on Deadgrass Isle to see some fine nautical paintings.
Olive: Mom, I thought you said we were going someplace fun. This doesn't look very fun.
Maki refuses to let any protests from the twins ruin her appreciation of the beautiful art on display here.
Ivy: I don't know. I guess they are kind of nice.
Olive: Ugh, don't tell me you're turning to the dark side, too. Everything here is so boring!
She changes her tune a bit when she catches sight of the paintings featuring cats. All of a sudden, she's over the moon and wants gift shop reproductions for her bedroom at home.
Oh, okay, ghost Salim. Is it getting a bit lonely in the afterlife? I hope he's okay with the kids tagging along.
Olive, ever the skeptic, thinks it's pretty weird to go out to dinner with your dead dad like it's something totally normal that happens every day.
I'm choosing to believe she's misbehaving out of confusion rather than an actual desire to be bad. Mostly, I'm quite concerned that this restaurant's kitchen is so easily accessible to its patrons. Anyone could just up and waltz in there with no problem.
Salim: Mmm, yes, the flavors in this dish are absolutely exquisite!
Olive: How can you even taste anything? You're dead.
Maki: Honey, don't speak to your father in that tone.
Back home, it's time for the girls' birthday. Unfortunately, Salim couldn't accompany them, but Maki does her best to provide an adequate amount of birthday spirit for the both of them.
Here's teenage Ivy. She must have sneaked out and gotten her hair dyed while no one was looking.
Here's Olive, who really wishes I would've waited for a better moment to showcase her than when she's about to go to town on that plate of food.
Calm down, Olive, you're, like, a day into being a teenager. I think you can hold your horses on taking on the responsibilities of adulthood for a while longer.
Maki compromises by letting her adopt a kitten and take on all the responsibilities that come with pet parenthood.
Her childhood dream of being a cat owner, fulfilled. The kitten's name is Leah because that's what it was when they adopted her and I couldn't think of anything better to change it to.
Olive is absolutely hysterical with excitement about her new pet.
Leah looks so tiny on this huge pet pillow. By the way, is it just me, or do pets choose to sleep anywhere but their pillow 99.9% of the time? I feel like I can never get them to actually consistently use the thing.
Come on, Maki, I know that using public restrooms isn't the greatest experience in the world, but was it really that bad?
Oh... Shit. I guess it was that bad. Now I just feel awful that her last memory in life will be of the insides of a public toilet stall.
Christ, this is really depressing! No one cares that this woman's soul is being reaped right in front of them! Have some respect for the dead, people!
Ivy: Yeah, so... I guess our mom just died. Can we come over? We don't really know what do.
Between the four of them, these kids have really experienced more than their fair share of grief lately. Hopefully, they can serve as shoulders for each other to cry on in these trying times.
The girls locate their mother's urn so that they can properly grieve and transport her back to Brindleton Bay where she deserves to rest alongside her husband.
Then they pick up Leah, pack up their things, and head back to the city to stay with Nico and Willow until they're old enough to strike out on their own. They may not technically be related, but they're the closest thing to family the girls have got left other than Phoebe, who's already got a pretty full house.
Nico, who was always an ambitious student himself, only has one rule for the twins as long as they're staying with him: keep up those grades. Olive doesn't look too thrilled to be doing her homework, despite his eager encouragement.
A quick peek or two at Simstagram once she's finally left alone can't possibly hurt, though.
Olive: Ugh, school is so boring. How can you possibly like doing this stuff?
Ivy: Come on, it isn't so bad! Besides, Mom and Dad would have wanted us to do our best.
Honestly, Ivy and Nico get along quite well considering their shared love of chess and all other things nerdy.
Leah is settling in nicely, too. She's grown into an adult cat quickly and has decided that the top of the refrigerator is her favorite spot in the apartment. Don't ask me how she got up there or how she's going to get down.
Willow has suddenly gotten it into her head that she wants to be a stand-up comedian, so everyone heads out to support her at first "gig." Unfortunately, she seems to have come down with an inconveniently-timed spiral disease relapse just before she's set to go on.
Olive: Hold on, we're trying to WebMD it, but the reception is terrible around here.
What a trooper. She still takes the microphone in spite of whatever weird alien chicken pox she's got going on.
Ivy: Hahaha, oh my God, you are so funny!
Olive: Come on, sis, be honest. She's never going to grow if you keep praising mediocrity.
Unfortunately, she didn't seem to capture anyone else's attention, so I guess it's back to the drawing board for a new routine. At least she put herself out there, though!
If you were wondering where Nico was, he got distracted by frog hunting and missed the whole performance.
Nico: Ugh, it is so hot out here! I'm burning up!
Yeah, it's the desert, buddy. I feel like this is kind of on you for wearing full winter gear while engaging in strenuous activity.
Random Old Lady: Looks like someone isn't as cut out for the desert climate as they thought they were!
Listen, woman, no one asked you. Stay out of it, and let Nico drink his ice cold water in peace!
Olive has recruited Willow to be her new workout buddy, but, judging by the entirely unexcited look on her face, I don't think Willow had much say in the matter.
Olive: Isn't working out awesome?!? It's such an adrenaline rush!
Willow: Uh, maybe if you have an entirely warped definition of the word "awesome."
Willow: You know what I'd call awesome? This pizza.
A lady after my own heart.
Willow: Please tell me you're not eating the birthday cake you promised you'd make me before I've even had my birthday.
Nico: *chuckles nervously* No! What on earth would make you think that? *long awkward pause* I'll make you a new one, I swear.
Nico: Look, I made another cake! Everything is perfect! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Willow: Nice try, but you can't just take back what you and I both know.
Damn it, Leah, stop eating Willow's back-up birthday cake! I don't think Nico could handle having to whip up a third one.
That awkward moment when you go to blow out the birthday candles and instead come face-to-face with a big old whiff of cat breath.
Willow: Well, that's it, I guess I'm another year older now. No one should probably go near that cake unless they enjoy the taste of cat drool.
And with that, we bid adieu to Olive, Ivy, Nico, and Willow as main characters and let them populate the background of Phoebe's story instead. I promise I tried to get more into them. I actually had a ton more pictures from these attempts, but they were so uninteresting I had no idea what to do with them and ended up tossing them out. I'm sure they're all lovely Sims. Sometimes it just doesn't work out.