Culpepper Pals: Spring 3: Bell

[beanstalk_sims]

Index / Boolprop




Last time, Shari and Taeko grew into young adults! While Taeko decided to leave home and pursue a degree, Shari decided to stay home, take out a loan and open a vet clinic. She made a great start treating the animals of Newcrest! Adora also grew into an elder right at the end of the season.






We're back in Oasis Springs, and Travis has made everyone a nice, balanced breakfast of...frank and beans?

Whatever floats your boat.




Naturally, when I arrive, Cookie is unwell. Thankfully Shari is able to sort it out quickly.

It's very helpful having a vet in the family.




Tania, meanwhile, catches up on her homework, for her aspiration.

I don't think I'll manage to complete it in time, as she's only a child for another day or so. I guess that's how it goes sometimes, but it does mean she's the only child from this wave of Culpepper kids who hasn't managed it. My bad.




Also all of Tania's usual buddies have grown into teens, leaving Tania with only one person to hang out - Caroline Ember.

Caroline was a toddler until quite recently, so this is the first time they've met. And with Tania's impending birthday, this is also probably the last time they'll hang out.




She's a sweet little thing <3

Just a shame that the timing of her birth means she's kind of in between the baby booms - too young for Dolly, Marnie, Tori & Tania, but too old for Danny Goth and whoever else happens to be born in the next season or two.




So while Tania makes a new friend, Shari has a whim for a different kind of new friend. Shari wants to adopt a dog.

Everyone, meet Butters!




Isn't she just the cutest little puppy? It was definitely love at first sight.

Butters has the Playful, Couch Potato and Aggressive traits. I don't think I've had a pet with the Aggressive trait yet, so that'll be interesting.




She's so small, I'm melting from the cuteness!




Cookie picked that exact moment to get ill again, so I guess that's her way of telling me she'd like attention, too.




And that was Sunday. New friends, and vet procedures.






Monday morning is gloomy in Newcrest, and there's plenty of pets for Shari to tend to.

My current plan at the moment is to spend Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the vet clinic, and to be home by about 5pm, so that I get a chance to play the other sims in the household. I think once Tania leaves home and Adora has passed away, I'll probably spend more time at the vet clinic with Shari, but at the moment I'm trying to find a balance between them all.






I don't take a lot of pictures at the vet clinic - there isn't a whole lot going on - but you do occasionally see fun stuff.

David brought Lulu in, and while Shari was tending to her he got attacked by a dog from the waiting room, which was both terrible and amusing. Poor David.




Just as Shari was about to leave the clinic and head home for the evening, I got the pop up for the Humour and Hijinks festival, and figured why not?






Comedy isn't Shari's strong point, but her biological mother turned up to cheer her on <3

Aarohi turns up quite often when Shari is out and about, it's quite sweet really.




Apparently Shari and Penny Pizzazz are friends? And I have no idea how that happened?




Anyway, Shari's team wins and she heads home with an inventory full of goodies.






A totally average evening in the Bell household, really.




Tuesday morning rolls around and it's time for Tania's birthday!




I love her! You can totally tell she's Travis's daughter, I think.

I gave Tania the Archaeology Scholar aspiration, as I wanted a sim to explore Selvadorada with. It's not really something I've explored with the game yet, despite having owned the pack for a while. The idea of Tania going off and having adventures has kind of always been my plan for her.

She also gained the Self-Assured trait.






Tania's first adventure? Bunking school to check out the bar in Oasis Springs with her friends. Dolly wasn't invited as it's the daytime and she's not immune to sunlight yet.

And Tori clearly thought it was a bad idea because she left as soon as I unpaused the game.




Marnie didn't stay long either, actually. Tania ordered them both a drink and Marnie was gone by the time it arrived.

So much for a birthday celebration.






She did make a new friend while she was there though - pretty sure Johnny Zest lives right across the road from her, too.




All this socialising nonsense sure is tiring.






The plan for a quiet afternoon at home fell through too, as Shari was invited out to Windenburg by David.




David also brought Norah along for some reason? But it was good to see the old gang together again <3




It was a pretty uneventful afternoon, though, just spent catching up and dancing round the fire.

It did give me an idea, though.




Time for a dance party at the Bluffs!

It has been a while since I last threw one, and what a better time than when the next wave of gen 2 kids are reaching their teens?

I guess Max invited himself along too. He turns up in the background a lot, I reckon he's keeping an eye on Dolly.






Max is not the only older brother wandering around in the background, keeping an eye on things.

Such good older siblings <3




So while they were socialising, I figured I'd check the family tree to remind myself who Tania's biological mother is, just in case she turned up in the background at parties and occasions, like Shari's mum does.

Instead, I made a rather surprising discovery:



Travis has another daughter.

I checked MCCC, but it is running correctly, so this must have happened before Adora. But because aging is off for unplayed sims, Travis's little one stayed a baby. This left me a bit stumped.

What do I do? Do I ignore the new baby, pretend I never noticed? Do I move her in and make her part of the family? Why does this always happen to Adora Bell's partners in particular??

Well, I made my decision, anyway. Let's head back to Oasis Springs:




"It's a nice night," Adora said, with a smile, "I love living in the desert."

"Um, while we're out here, Adora, there's something I wanted to talk about with you."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I...er...I just found out I have another daughter. This morning."




"What?!" Adora exclaimed, "How many times in my life am I going to have to have this conversation?!"

"I know!" Travis replied, "I know! I know what you went through with Akira, and I'm sorry but this...this is from a long time ago. Brianna was born before I met you, I just didn't know."

"Brianna?"

"Yeah, Brianna Caliente. Her mother is Katrina Caliente, we had a quick fling a long, long time ago."




"Well...As long as it's ancient history. That you're not still seeing Katrina."

"I'm not, I swear!" Travis insisted. He hesitated for a moment, "There is one more thing."

"What?"




"I'd like Brianna to come live with us, Adora. I want all of my children under one roof."

"I guess I'd want that too, if I were in your position," Adore replied.

The two of them fell silent for a moment. Eventually, Adora shuffled closer to Travis.






"The more, the merrier, hey?" Adora said, with a smile, "Our family isn't exactly a normal one, but I wouldn't trade it in for anything."

Travis breathed a sigh of relief, "I love you, Adora."

"I love you too."




Naturally, Butters picked that exact moment to grow up. Not now, Butters, there's family drama going on!

Anyway, Brianna:




I really hesitated over whether or not to add Brianna to the household. The generation is already pretty big but...I just felt like I couldn't ignore her. Not now I knew she existed. But I also aged her to a child because the timing is off otherwise.

So meet Brianna Caliente! She has the Whiz Kid aspiration, and the Neat trait!

At least there's another child in the save for Caroline Ember to hang out with now, right?




I think Adora quite likes her <3 But Adora has always been good with kids, regardless of whether they were biologically hers.

It wouldn't let me set Adora as a caregiver, though. I'm not sure why.




Downstairs, news of a new sibling has spread to Tania.

"Wait...that means I have to share my room again!!"

It does indeed.




Travis is definitely happy with this new arrangement, though <3

This was definitely the right thing to do.




I'm not sure Tania is convinced, but hopefully she'll come around.




"Oh man, Taeko, you are not going to believe what has happened in the last twelve hours!"






Anyway, after all that drama, it's Wednesday, and it's time to cure some sick pets!

First up is Bella Vatore, Caleb and Kirby's little dog.




By the end of the day, Shari has earned enough to pay back some of the loan on the vet clinic.

5k down, 20k to go!




Back at the house, things are relatively quiet.

Adora finally got a cowplant berry! About time! I have wanted her to have a cowplant for aaaages!




So while Adora is digging around in the garden, Tania slips out to meet her friends.

"...so now I'm not the youngest, and I don't have my own room, and they just expect me to be okay with it all? It's crazy!"

"That is pretty wild." Marnie agreed.




"I think I'd hate not being the youngest," Dolly replied, after a moment, "I like being the only one at home now."

"Still," Tori interjected, "It might be nice to have siblings. I don't have any, and I sometimes wonder if I've missed out."

The four of them fell silent for a moment, before moving on to talk about something less serious.




Something they said must have stuck with Tania, though, as she went home and spent time with Brianna.

Maybe she's coming around to the idea of being a big sister.






Shari, meanwhile, has got bigger problems than a new family member - she's trying to tempt Cookie away from those hot dogs.

Good luck with that, Shari.




I know she was doing sit ups, but it does look like Shari is just chilling on the rug with Cookie <3




Thursday rolls around, and for most of the day, was totally uneventful. Which I'll take, after the drama of Brianna's arrival.

Thursday evening, however? Shari's got plans...




The gang are getting together in Windenburg!




I imagine it must be quite nice for the sisters to hang out, after everything that has happened this week.




I'd like to mention that Oli was there, but he took himself inside and didn't really chat to anyone.

Just like the good ol' days <3




Looks like someone overdid the socialising! Time to go home to bed.




Unfortunately, during the early hours of Friday morning, Cookie passed away.

I knew it had to be coming up, but it's still super sad. What's worse is, Grim wouldn't come for her. She just laid on the floor for several hours.

So I ended up having to reset her, and Grim.






Cookie ended up getting an extra four hours of life, so the sun was up and Friday had well and truly started by the time the Grim Reaper actually came for her.




He also didn't leave immediately.

DON'T MIND ME, I'M JUST CHECKING MY FACEBOOK...OOH, A FRIEND REQUEST FROM OLIVE SPECTRE.






I would normally send Shari to the vet clinic on a Friday, but you know what? Take the day off.




I think Shari is the most heartbroken out of all of them :(




Oh, and it also happens to be Love Day and the Festival of Light.

I had intended to send the whole family along...




Well, only Taeko is happy to be there.






Love Day was a bit of a bust.




The family was starting to feel a little better Saturday morning, though. Caroline was invited over so she and Brianna could get to know one another.

Look how angry little Butters is. She attacked Caroline moments later.




Shari still loves Butters, despite how angry she is.

I'm thinking Shari might get a new cat in the summer. It feels a bit too soon yet.




Caroline, please.




I guess Saturday was just made for socialising, because Taeko also stopped by.

She has a key, so she can drop by whenever.




Tania also found Johnny Zest wandering the neighbourhood looking sad, so she invited him in to try and cheer him up.




"Is that...my daughter comforting an older man?"

Don't even worry about it, Travis. He's too old for her.




And just before the rotation ended, Adora's cowplant sprouted.

I love it so much.




It just really adds something to the yard!

Anyway, that's it for the Bells this time!




I swear, this family never has a quiet rotation! I love playing them, though <3

See you next time for the Vatore update!