The Gregory Legacy, Chapter 31

Hi again and welcome to another chapter of The Gregory Legacy! We've got a big chapter today. In fact, I've been trying out larger chapters recently. If you have a strong opinion on whether you like shorter (35-40 pictures) or longer (50+) chapters, please let me know, either in comments or at one of the forums linked at the end! I'm experimenting with having fewer, longer chapters to make the generations not seem like they're dragging on for so many chapters, but I'm always open to feedback.

On another note, I have a new feature on this blog. The Who's Who section - conveniently linked in the top tabs - has pictures, stats, and "fun facts" about all the major players in The Gregory Legacy. It's a good spot to keep track of . . . well, who's who, but also I tried to make it fun to read, so give it a look! :)  (Note 2/15/18: This information is now in the family tree. Click on a sim's pic to read their bio.)

Okay, with all that out of the way, let's dive back in. We left off after a successful wedding (that was a failure of a party) and were staring down the imminent birth of generation 6, but ended with a literal dive back in from Aimee, who lost her swimsuit in the process. What's going on now?

Weirdly enough, when I loaded the game back up, Aimee was still doing her confident face, but she was dressed now - like, completely dressed. Ah, game, never stop being buggy. Aimee is a young adult but just chilling until Faye has her baby and then we'll get to see Aimee and Hannah get settled down with their significant others.

I got Faye and Andres' official couple's portrait up on the wall. It still makes me sad that I don't have one of these for Natalie and Jaron, but I'm glad I have one for the others. They amuse and please me.

Faye finally went into labor, and this gave her a breakthrough, apparently? I would think it would be hard to focus at a time like that, but what do I know? According to my friend Haleigh, this is a known issue (if you can call it that - it is helpful) with alien babies. So, okay, free breakthrough. I'll take it.

The observant among you may notice that down in the family portraits, Faye is on the right. She shouldn't be there, since she's older than both Andres and Aimee. Here's what happened. Faye met Andres when she was 9 days into her young adulthood. Assuming three pregnancies of no aging, they'll eventually be the same age. Only there seemed to be a bug that made Faye skip from halfway-ish through her young adulthood to almost finished. Not cool. So I gave her a youth potion (thereby making her younger than her husband and sister), and I'll just age her up when it's time for Andres's birthday. I consider this rectifying what the game is doing wrong, so I'm not counting that as her one use of a youth potion in her lifetime. FYI.

Andres: "Are you sure our offspring will really be comfortable spending his or her entire infancy in this thing? It looks a little confining."
Faye: "Ooh, oof. Trust me, Andres. We were all raised that way, and look how we turned out."
Andres: "Yes, about that . . ."
Faye: "Ah! No more discussion! It's time!"

Welcome to baby girl Ava, the first of the main line of generation six! How exciting to be solidly past the halfway mark!

I don't have a funny caption for this one. I just loved the way Andres was looking at his wife and newborn daughter. Very cute! <3

So hello to Ava! These are the first half-alien children I've had in this save, although I've played them in I Hart Space!, the legacy I share with my friend Kristina. Anyway, now that Ava is born, we can move Aimee out and check in on the spares (besides Adrian, who has already been situated and then some).

Now that she's an adult, Aimee can declare her true feelings to Kellen, who is only too happy to hear that she feels the same way. Aimee and Hannah have moved into a lovely Gallery house and are ready to get on with their lives.

For Aimee, that means a blossoming romance with Kellen. They already had an excellent friendship from their night out at the bistro that never served them food, and they have excellent chemistry, so this was an easy match.

Hannah, of course, already had a boyfriend in Max Villareal, and just had to grow him up so they could pick up where they left off. One cake later, and I'm ready to merge households to get the guys into the house.

Now these two couples can get down to the typical Gregory Legacy spare business of getting married and trying really hard not to make each other jealous immediately, but there's a problem. There's always a problem with the spares. Max picked up noncommittal as his adult trait, so he won't want to get married and would probably eventually even want to break up with Hannah if I played them long enough. Ugh. I'm not sure he's really good enough for Hannah, but she adores him, so I guess he can stay for now, and they just will keep things semi-casual.

That very night after a lot of romance social spamming, Kellen proposes to Aimee, and she is delighted to accept. These two were really ridiculously easy to match up.

Unlike some sims.

Max: "Babe, there's an arch. You're not getting any crazy ideas, are you?"
Hannah: "No, Max. We talked about that already. This is Aimee's wedding."
Max: "Your dress is looking distinctly bridal, though."
Hannah: "It's light blue, and it's just the lighting. Chill!"

Aimee and Kellen: "I do!"
Max: "I don't. Never ever."
Hannah: "Shut up and watch the ceremony."

Although he wasn't impressed by the wedding, Max is still pretty interested in Hannah, so I decided after some deliberation to stick with him and just leave them as boyfriend and girlfriend. They seem to be happy enough with that.

While I was playing the spare ladies, I got Backyard Stuff, so of course I had to try it out right away. Thus, this household got to be the first to try a slide with bubbles.

A good time was had by all, and now we can safely leave two of my favorite Gregory spares and their significant-others-with-douchey-hats to enjoy their new yard toys for all of eternity. Hopefully Hannah and Aimee will pop up in the background in the future. Have a nice life, girls!

Back home, and . . .

Faye: "I'm pregnant again! This is so great! I can't wait to tell Andres. I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

Faye: "That reaction was distinctly disappointing."

Yeah, Andres didn't react well so I didn't take a picture of it because it doesn't fit with his character. Boo! Fathers should have good reactions more often, and no frowns unless they have a trait reason. That is my ruling.

He may not be on the ball with pregnancy reactions, but Andres is a very attentive father to little Ava.

Laurel is also delighted to meet her first on-purpose grandchild when she comes home from work. Ava is not going to lack for people to care for and about her.

In fact, even child-hating Dayna managed to beat grandma Kori up to the nursery and pick the right interaction that Ava needed!

Kori made sure to thank her appropriately. She's having to work on mischief interactions for her job now. Mostly I just have her "troll teh forums" since that counts, but an evil girl's gotta let loose sometimes.

Time passed, Faye worked, and Andres worked out. Not much interesting happened, and soon Ava was growing up into a very colorful mismatched ensemble. To the mirror with you, missy!

Here's Ava. She's got a very interesting eye shape (from her father, I presume), but I think she's just adorable. She's got a bit of a prim style. I'm really glad she got Andres's blond hair. We've had nothing but dark brown or black hair since the founder, and I'm really sick of the monotony. I just want to switch it up a little bit, so I'm hoping the heir/ess for this generation is blond.

I dressed her in yellow shorts because she'll be going for Rambunctious Scamp, and I always associate bright colors with that aspiration. All the black is due to her trait, which is . . . evil. Of course. That's three generations of evil right here! Ava is going to be a handful, but I'm pretty used to those kinds of sims at this point.

The trick to evil (and mean) sims is to keep them occupied and not let them converse freely too often. Laurel gets Ava off on the right foot by helping her with her homework. She grew up right before the weekend, so she won't be going in for a few days, but it's nice to cross it off the list.

Meanwhile, Andres is still working hard on his aspiration under the tutelage of various ghosts. He and Marjorie didn't hit it off too well, though, because they had a bit of a red bar by the time she got bored and found something else to do.

Faye's pregnancy was progressing nicely, and Andres was excited to meet his next child. They're all dressed up for a party, because . . .

. . . Kori is becoming an elder! The whole family and one party invitee were there to celebrate with lots and lots of confetti.

Then somehow the pregnant woman was the fastest in leading a parade to the living room to perform party actions. Kori threw the party, of course, and we're still working on her very difficult Party Animal aspiration. She still needs to throw a bunch of events.

It was actually a pretty fun party, and they even looked for a while like they were having a good time.

What really got me excited was when they acknowledged this little seating/reading nook that they ignore 95% of the time, and they used it to eat and chat. That pleased me mightily. Also, Laurel got to see all four of her kids at the same time.

After the party, Kori got a bit of a makeover, and now she finally has bangs like she always had in her workout and swim outfits. I love this shirt with this skirt, and I think it makes for a great more mature look for Kori.

Laurel seems to approve too.

Ava actually had the whim to stargaze with her grandmother, and I was happy to oblige, because it's good for them to get to know each other.

By the next afternoon, Kori and Ava were great friends and enjoyed their brand new water slide together (those are Kori's legs, by the way).

Here's our happy little main family, all working hard on their aspirations. Faye is working so hard (with the help of moodlet solvers) that she hadn't even changed out of her party clothes yet.

When Adrian dropped by for a visit, Kori singled him out for some mischief interactions. He was amused, since she didn't use any of the meaner ones. This picture cracks me up because it mirrors a picture from Adrian's teen years of him harassing poor Mr. Kim.

Laurel came home from work with a promotion and she has now topped the music career! She's my first sim ever to top any career as an adult, which is kind of a sad reflection on my skills. She responds by talking to herself.

Meanwhile, quite-pregnant Faye has been upgrading some new objects because I redid the playroom and completely shuffled the rooms on the upstairs level. I love being able to move whole rooms. Even though I did have to replace some doors and windows that got deleted and repaint some walls, overall it was pretty painless compared to having to rebuild from scratch. I am fairly confident that we will have a tour of the house next chapter, because it is getting very close to completion. The new playroom has lots of cool Kid's Room Stuff stuff, and I stuck a TV up there just for the heck of it. Since Faye has maxed her handiness now, she upgrades quickly. Soon I'll send her to Forgotten Grotto and see if we can finish off her aspiration.

Andres is also making progress on his aspiration, as he has reached maximum body potential or whatever it's called. He almost doesn't look like himself anymore since his body is so different. It's interesting. Now he just needs to max the fitness skill.

I also redid the grounds so that we could have a second backdoor to make access easier and fit in the water slide. Now the garden is off of the kitchen and second backdoor, and it is still just as ridiculously huge, but it's a great moneymaker and useful for Faye's serums. Some days it takes both of our in-house gardeners to care for it, though. Whoever the heir/ess is, he or she will need to learn to garden too, just out of necessity.

Laurel: "Look at you, sweetie! Boy or girl, do you think?"
Faye: "It doesn't matter. I love the baby already."
Laurel: "Wow, Faye, you hardly sound like yourself anymore."
Faye: "I know. I think Andres has brainwashed me or something. I just like you guys now or something. It's weird."

It helps that I closely regulate her conversations, but Faye is making a good mother. Laurel is over the moon to meet more grandchildren, and I loved the looks they're both giving Faye's belly in this picture. This pregnancy seemed to drag on forever, but it's almost done . . .

Andres: "Was that bear always in the spot or did it get moved when our upstairs magically rearranged itself?"
Faye: "I really, honestly, really don't care right now! Ow ow ow!"

In a flurry of sparkles, Faye delivers another daughter, this one named Celeste. Andres is kind of paying attention now. He might be daydreaming about Faye, though, because . . .

They started flirting as soon as Celeste was in the bassinet. This is Faye autonomously serenading Andres, by the way. It looks really strange, lol. I had to send Laurel in to care for Celeste since these two ran off like 'very flirty' newlyweds shortly afterwards.

The ghosts are still obsessed with the clay lumps, and they occasionally leave me nice little sculptures all over the house, but mostly they just move the clay around from room to room.

Faye: "Yes!"

Faye seems happier about her pregnancies than any other sim I've had. This will be the last one this generation, because the pregnancies really tire her out when she's at work.

Faye: "You know how we woohoo'd like five minutes ago?"
Andres: "Yeah . . .?"
Faye: "Well, I'm pregnant again!"

Andres: "YES!"

Why is he happy about this one and dismissive of the other ones? The world may never know, but both Faye and I are just relieved for him to be pleased about one of the pregnancies.

Ava: "Well, hello there. What is this, lying in my former bassinet? Did someone authorize you to lie there, little thing? Hmm. What are we going to do with this?"

Ava: "Mwa ha ha. I have some ideas already!"

Faye: "Do you think Ava will accept being a big sister once she figures out that Celeste is a baby and not a thing?"
Andres: "I doubt it will be a problem, dear. Our lovely daughter will surely react appropriately and temperately to the introduction of her sister."

Submitted without comment.

Faye's final pregnancy is turning out to be a tough one. She's having needs problems and throwing up a lot. She was queasy with the other ones, but never threw up.

At this point, I had some computer problems . . .

. . . so, because of crashes, I ended up playing the same day of Faye's work three times.  >:(  She did basically the same thing every day, which was harassing her coworkers. I mostly go for the things she's supposed to do to coworkers because it fits her personality to indiscriminately use her sim ray, with a side of occasional invention.

The other thing that happened over and over was ghosts bugging Andres while he worked out. I only took pictures of two of them, though. Andres and Marjorie are even more annoyed with each other than they were before. I blame Marjorie.

Anyway, the crashes turned out to be related to my graphics driver, so I got that sorted out and we can get on with the legacy.

Ava: "Dad! You don't have to walk me to my first day of school. I'm already like a quarter of the way through my childhood anyway, and I'm just going to teleport away right over there."
Andres: "*sniff* Darling, your years of youth are so fleeting. I must endeavor to enjoy every moment with you."
Ava: "Daaaaaaad!"

Ha ha, Andres was actually going out to get the (ridiculous - around $16,000 now) bills, but it did look like he was walking her to school and Ava did give him some major side-eye for it.

After school and some more working out, he helped her with her homework. Andres is a great dad.

Since Celeste is a baby and Ava's making good progress on her aspiration, I wanted to keep her occupied, so I got her some booster packs of Voidcritters and let her train one. She used the fire element Doofy Goldfish (not its actual name) to beat up a freezer bunny. This is a lot more entertaining than it strictly should be, or at least it is while it's new.

Within a day or two of growing up, Ava had been asked by aunt Aimee to join Partihaus, where they just love inviting young kids to party, AND was asked to join the League of Adventurers by their leader, Elsa. Ava thanked Elsa by initiating a club gathering to get her to come over, and then challenging her to a Voidcritter battle. With Doofy Goldfish now at level 2, Ava absolutely obliterated Elsa's Voidcritter. She might have enjoyed it a little too much, judging by the faces she made.

Evil Ava is also just delighted by her mom's constant nausea and resulting discomfort. Poor Faye is having a rough go of it this time around.

In fact, she should probably have taken some time off, but she's making good progress on promotions, and I really need her to top the career in order to fulfill the last requirement of Laurel's second aspiration, which is Successful Lineage. Apparently this requirement often fulfills when you reach the branch of a career, so I really should have had Faye do almost anything else besides an active career, but there's no going back now.

Laurel's time is limited, though, because she's becoming an elder. I didn't have time to throw a party because I was managing Faye, but the club was gathering, so they and the family were there to cheer Laurel on.

Laurel got a bit of an update to her look, and I think she looks great! I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but she maxed all three instrument skills during her adult life, which is pretty impressive to me. Now that she doesn't really need to focus on her career or skilling, I'm having her write and license songs.

Andres: "Faye, my dear, I appreciate you working so hard while also gestating our third child. You are truly an exemplary provider, and I wish I had something better than a rose to give you to show my appreciation."
Faye: "Aww, this rose is great. You're great, Andres. I'm so glad I found you that day on Sixam. This really worked out well."
Andres: "Yes, we have been most fortunate, have we not? I love you, Faye."
Faye: "And I love you."

Andres: "And I love you, little Celeste. This may be the strangest sim family I have ever learned of, yet I feel you are very lucky to have been born into it. Certainly you are very loved. Do not forget that, young one."

Celeste grows up with such power that she temporarily made the bassinet disappear. Love the cat sweater, but not for her.

Here's our adorable middle child! I remembered to give a kid freckles for once. I never remember until they're teens, and by that point I feel like it would be weird for them to suddenly have freckles, so no Gregory since Natalie has had freckles - until now. Anyway, Celeste is self-assured and also wants to be a Rambunctious Scamp. The computers and monkey bars are going to be seeing a lot of use with two scamps using them all the time in the coming days! I tried Celeste out in some of the Kids' Room Stuff clothes and hair, and I gave her glasses just for the heck of it. She seems to me to be an easygoing kid who is confident in her own abilities. I later realized these are the same glasses my last self-assured kid, Henry, had, which is an interesting coincidence.

Faye: "simRoxy, it's the weirdest thing. I love my family and I actually have friends. What's come over me?"
simRoxy: "I think your heart grew two sizes that day."
Faye: "Which day?"
simRoxy: "I dunno. One of them. It's nice to see the new Faye, though."
Faye: "Yeah, it is. I enjoy being friends with you . . ."

Faye: " . . . which is why I hope you know this isn't personal."

Well, some things never change, I guess. While Faye torments her coworker, let's wrap up the end of this lengthy chapter. Next time we should see a short tour of the decorated house, and we will definitely see the birth of the third child and the announcement of the heir/ess, which means next chapter will be the last one with Faye on the cover. Check back soon-ish for all that (I've already played ahead and just need to lay it out and write it!) and in the meantime, visit with me at SiMania or Boolprop. Thanks for reading!