Big updates incoming

Just thought I'd let you know - been super busy over the weekend, but am planning for some major updates on tuesday and thursday. Until then - happy simming!

1.5: Shattered Dreams

The following chapter is narrated by Melinda. Pictures will be up by tomorrow as I messed up when creating this post.

"It's funny how fast life passes you by. One minute you're a freshly graduated student, the next you have a growing family and your largest worries become everyday practical stuff. Like work, bills and grocery shopping. And your kids of course, how they can make you worry like you've never worried before.

Perhaps "funny" is not the right choice of a word in this context. The word I would use to describe life progression would be something more like... scary, or even terrifying. Like when you wake up from a nightmare, all sweaty and with tears streaming down your face. I would say I prefer nightmares over life; you are at least able to wake up from your nightmares, no matter how frequent or frightening they are.

I should not complain about life though, even though it may seem unfair at times. I grew up with my grandparents in a large house in Appaloosa Plains, a very lush and cozy little community far from the big city. I had everything a young girl could ask for; love, friends, horses, dogs and cats, and my very own bedroom, overstuffed with plushies, Barbie dolls and animated movies. I had everything but the one thing I wanted the most... parents.

I lost my mother and father on my sixth birthday. I had been spending the summer with my horses, at my grandparents place. My parents were on their way to pick me up and bring me back home to Sunset Valley as I was about to start school, when a deer jumped out on the road in front of the car. The impact was inevitable, and death was immediate to my mother. My father survived the collision, but did not make it to the hospital in time.

The only thing I've got left from my parents are glimpses of memories. Like how my mom always failed with the candles on my birthday cakes, or how my dad always forgot where he had put the newspaper. I also remember when my grandmother, Anastasia Stardust, had to break the news about my parents passing to me... how I cried endlessly for days and days, how I could barely eat nor sleep.

My grandparents decided on letting me stay with them in Appaloosa Plains, I did have my horses and quite a few friends there after all. As the years progressed, I started to accept the fact that my parents were forever gone, and I was able to move on with my life. I even called Anastasia 'mom' from time to time. My grandfather, Benjamin Stardust, was my idol, and I worshipped him like little girls worship their fathers. Anastasia and Benjamin became the parents I had once lost.

But Anastasia and Benjamin were old even before I was born. When I was 14, Ben got diagnosed with unusually agressive Alzheimer's. Not even six months later, he could no longer remember who I was, and by the time I had turned 15 he had also forgotten about Anastasia. Only a few nights later, he fell into an eternal sleep. The doctors told us, after Ben's autopsy, that the final cause of death was a stroke.

Anastasia died from natural causes; old age and a tired heart. You could say I lost my parents twice. I was 18 by the time, and theoretically capable of taking care of myself. I was lucky to have met my husband, Marcus Stardust, prior to the even of my grandmother's passing, as I was not at all prepared to 'grow up overnight'. Marcus, a few years older than me, got to make all the life-changing decisions that later brought us to Bridgeport in hope for a better life. There were no jobs for us in Appaloosa, and we couldn't possibly bring forth enough money to pay the bills for my grandparents big house. So we sold it, we sold it all, to start over with our lives in the city.

But why am I telling you all this, you may ask. I want to give you a deeper understanding behind my reasoning when I found out about my pregnancy. Why I would possibly want to abort my child. A part of me didn't want to, obviously, because if it did I wouldn't have my gorgeous son in my life right now. I am just so scared. Scared of what would happen to my only child if me and Marcus suddenly died. Benjamin Alexander would have no future at all, as neither me nor Marcus have got any other family left, and no money to provide him a dignified future. Ben Jr. would end up in the arms of some old, cold-hearted social worker, before getting shipped like a piece of furniture between foster families. 

I was lucky enough to have my grandparents. Benjamin is not."

1.4: Preparations

Behind Marcus' back, Melinda had secretly been seeing a doctor at the hospital, discussing her options thoroughly. As she didn't have any insurances whatsoever, an abortion became less and less of an option. The longer she waited, the more pricey an abortion would become, and it would soon be too late to have one at all. While starting to realize she'd actually be a parent in a short matter of time, the design of her inventions started to take on a new design, with mostly toys as a result of hours and hours by the working bench.

During this hard time, Marcus turned out to be just the rock Melinda needed him to be; he was dealing with most of the chores at home while working overtime as often as possible, and he spent the little time he had left in the small garden he had planted in the yard. Everything to be able to provide for his and Melinda's baby.

The garden was not at all big or impressive, it had only the most basic fruits and vegetables growing in it, but it both saved the couple some cash and provided for higher quality ingredients and meals. As Marcus gardening skill advanced, so did also Melinda's cooking skill and together they made quite the team in the kitchen. "A happy tummy leads to better sleep, better sleep leads to a better mood, a better mood is always nice", as Marcus liked to express it.

But priority one right now was to be able to save up enough money to be able to build and furnish a nursery before the baby would arrive. Marcus recieved a well-deserved promotion, and Mel kept spending all her awake hours working in the garage. Her baby bump was now growing quickly, and the young couple started to prepare for the baby's arrival. The nursery was far from finished, with the rest of the house still echoing from the lack of furniture and decorations.

One dark and rainy night, Mel started to get labor contractions. As Marcus rushed out of bed to call for a cab to bring Melinda to the hospital, the contractions rapidly became worse and worse. "I wouldn't wish this pain on my worst enemy!", Mel yelled as she gasped for air between the contractions. "Remember what we read in the books about the importance of correct breathing, honey", Marcus responded in an attempt to calm both Melinda and himself down. He took her hand and started leading her carefully to the front door.

By the time the cab arrived, Mel was already too far into labor. Just a few minutes later, she gave birth to a gorgeous, healthy little baby boy. "Benjamin. I shall name you after my grandfather, my beautiful, beautiful boy", Mel whispered as Marcus handed her Ben. "Benjamin. I like it. I like it a lot, Mel. Benjamin Alexander Stardust. Alexander is from my father", Marcus said with a big grin on his face.

"Imagine if I'd had this amazing boy aborted", she thought to herself as a chill went through her body. "Imagine to never get to see his face, his tiny little fingers and toes, the dark curly hair on top of his head...". Marcus overheard her out-loud thinking, and interrupted her with the words "Mel darling, I've got a surprise for you... for both of you". 

And there it was, the nursery, all finished. Benjamin's own room! "How? When? Am I dreaming?", Mel stuttered. "I've been working on it when you have been asleep at nights, I really wanted to surprise you, and it seems I finished just in time". Marcus gave Mel and Ben the most loving of looks before embracing them both as tight as he dared to. "I love you, Marcus", Mel sighed as she put the baby into the crib.

1.3: As Life Progresses

The very next morning, Melinda woke up feeling rested, despite the feelings that had rushed over her when waking up from dreaming that night.

She decided to leave bed to go prepare breakfast for Marcus, as this would be the first day at his new job, surprised to find her husband already sitting by the table, having finished breakfast already and nervously biting his nails off. "What's up honey? Did you not sleep well?", she asked him. "I had a very good nights sleep dear, but I woke up from your skin burning against mine, you must've had a fever Melinda". "Well, I did have an odd dream, but I was able to fall asleep again pretty quickly as having you close soothes me", she said forcing a smile on her face, and quickly kissing his forehead. "Don't worry about me today, this is your big day, go show that new boss of yours just how great you are!". 

As Marcus left for work, Melinda heated up some leftover waffles from the previous day and finished them quickly to continue the inventing where she left off last night. She soon started to feel nauseous, but tried to ignore her body's needs, unsuccessfully. Instead, she had to rush to the bathroom to throw up. "It must've been the waffles from yesterday, perhaps I didn't heat them properly", she thought to herself.

But as the day progressed, the sickness kept coming back and Melinda did not get to keep either food or fluid. Her body being exhausted after all the vomiting, she crawled into bed for a quick nap.

A few hours later, Marcus got back from work and woke Melinda up. "Baby, are you still not feeling well? Did you catch the flu or something? I told you you had a fever last night", Marcus said. "I'm fine, I think it may have been the waffles in the fridge, will you throw them away please?", Melinda responded. "I had the leftover waffles for breakfast too, and I feel perfectly fine. You did most definitely catch the flu, darling. Let me take care of everything today, you just... just stay in bed", Marcus said before leaving to clean the toilet and wash Melinda's puked-on clothes.

As Marcus left the room, a somewhat scary thought crossed Melinda's mind. "What if this nausea is in fact not the waffles, or the flu... what if... what if I'm pregnant? No, no, that can't be. I've been on pills for years now...". Before she'd even finished the thought, she had to rush back to the bathroom and throw up once more. As Melinda kneeled by the toilet, Marcus entered the bathroom, sat down by her side and pulled her hair back. "Poor, poor baby. You must be exhausted, would you want me to make you some dinner? I can make you some salad, it's easy to digest and you can eat as little or much as you would like, okay?". Melinda responded with a nod.

While trying to finish off the salad Marcus had prepared for her, Melinda slowly started to accept the fact that she probably and most likely was pregnant, despite how much she didn't want nor need a baby right now. How could they provide for a child, when they could barely provide for themselves? Prices in Bridgeport were ridicolous compared to the prices they were used to. Melinda decided to share the news with Marcus, hoping he'd be supportive in whatever decicion they'd have to make together.

Marcus became completely overjoyed by the amazing news, a baby! "This is the he best gift anyone could ever ask for, a blessing from above, someone have been listening to my prayers!", Marcus cried out in happiness. But as he watched Melinda's face, he realized something wasn't right. "Hun, don't you see? This baby will bring us the light we need in our lives right now. I shall make sure it has everything it will possibly need, I can work double shifts, get an extra job aside the one at the research facility. And you can work on your inventing as much as your body allows you to". Marcus was expecting a different reaction as Melinda broke down in tears.

She then started re-telling her dream from the other night, about how she'd like her baby to be raised, about her own childhood. "If I cannot give my child what was once given to me, I do not want a child", Melinda said. "As someone once said to me; everything isn't either black or white Melinda", Marcus said. "We can make this work, this is our baby Mel. Our baby for crying out loud, how can you even consider an abortion!?".

That night, Melinda and Marcus slept on opposite sides of the bed. Well, the little sleep they actually got.

1.2: Settling In

The newlyweds Melinda and Marcus Stardust had just arrived to the big city after selling the countryside house Melinda had inherited from her grandfather. Little did they know that the money they had earned from selling the big and beautiful house would get them so little in the city, but madly in love they were happy to have a roof over their heads.

"Sure, it's tiny, not very impressing and a bit too stiff for both of our tastes, but at least we've got each other. As long as there's food on the table and a warm bed to slide into at night, I'll be happy", Marcus said in an attempt to be funny, but Melindas' facial impression quickly made him add "...and as long as you are in that warm bed". 

"Yeah, I guess you're right Marcus, I just expected our money to last a little longer", Melinda responded noticeably disappointed while scanning the room with her eyes. "We will be fine, with your brains and impressive ability to invent things people did not know they needed until you invented them, we'll have the home of our dreams in no time", Marcus added in an attempt to cheer Melinda up, before gently wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek.

Melinda then remembered what her grandfather had told her about a "taste and smell" memory, that if your brain register a smell connected to a positive memory, that memory would come to life and you would feel as you did in the moment the memory got recorded by your brain. What a perfect reason to prepare some waffles!

Waffles was the dish Melindas grandmother used to cook for her before she left for school every friday, to celebrate the weekend and all the fun and joy the weekend brings. Everytime she woke up to the smell of freshly made waffles, she knew the weekend was not far off. On the weekends Melinda and her grandparents used to go outdoors camping, skiing, boating, have picnics, pick flowers - anything a little girl could ask for on the countryside. "Housewarming waffles it is", she thought to herself as Marcus left the house to go apply for some jobs he had heard was up for grabs.

As the darkness started to fall over Bridgeport, Melinda decided to get started on her inventing in the garage, where she kept her work station. "Who knows, perhaps the cold could give me some inspiration", she said to herself as she entered the garage through the landry, sighing over the lack of a proper heating system. "If not, I could always make some decor for this empty shell of a house".

She kept working until Marcus got back home and snuggled up next to her. "I got the job", Marcus said with an overjoyed grin on his face. "Which one of them?", Melinda asked. "The one at the research facility, the one job I really wanted. Now come to bed darling", Marcus commanded. She could read from his body language that sleep wasn't all he had in mind. She giggled quietly and accepted the hand he had reached out for her to grab.

That night, Melinda had a dream about having a child, moving back to the countryside and having her kid grow up as safe and secure as she had done, thanks to her grandparents. She woke up crying when realizing that wouldn't happen, at least not anytime soon, as both Melinda and Marcus needed the big city to be able to provide for themselves, to have any future at all. She cuddled up close against Marcus body and went back to sleep, not knowing that parts of her previous dreams would soon come true.

1.1: The House

This is the house, in Bridgeport, where Melinda and Marcus will be living (for now at least).

As I've got Ambitions installed, I created a laundry right away (see the rules here).

Melinda will be working (inventing crazy stuff) in the empty garage until they can actually afford cars.

Misc. pictures of the house:

As you can see, it's quite empty right now, mainly because Melindas' inventors bench cost half a fortune. Hopefully that'll change soon, as I enjoy a nicely decorated house as much as Melinda and Marcus would do.

1.0: Introducing Generation One

This blog will tell the story of my progression with the The Sims 3 Random Legacy Challenge. This is where I'll upload pictures and stories from my sims everyday life. Portraits will be posted, along with the portrayed sims' traits, wishes and favourites. I will also publish the result of my rolls for each new generation (see end of this post).

And we'll, of course, start with the first generation. This is Melinda Stardust, the first Sim in my legacy and therefore the founder.

Melinda Stardust

Traits: Eccentric, Born Salesman, Family Oriented, Natural Cook, Handy

Favourites: Hamburgers, Pop, White

Zodiac: Libra

Lifetime Wish: Swimming in Cash

  

I also decide to create Melindas' husband right away (mainly to get to pick his traits manually), as my result on the Family Structure roll allows me to do so. Meet Marcus!

Marcus Stardust

Traits: Ambitious, Green Thumb, Handy, Angler, Family Oriented

Favourites: Hamburgers, Pop, Black

Zodiac: Libra

Lifetime Wish: Become a Creature-Robot Cross Breeder

The Rolls for generation 1:

A. Family structure: 22

Which gives "Mixed Couple"

B. Number of children: 6

Which gives "Two Kids"

C. Primary income: 10

Which gives "Non-standard Career"

C2. Non-standard Career: 6

Which gives "Inventor"

D. Secondary income (partners' income): 2

Which gives "Standard Career"

C1. Standard Career: 14

Which gives "Science"

E. Generation Goal: 12

Which gives "Property Mogul"

F. Miscellaneous Fun: 6

Which gives "Homemade"