Storybook Families

February 2024

Samantha Bradshaw is 24; Serdar Green is 72; Brandi Green is 69; Cory Green is 48; Rose Green is 33; Helen Green is 34; Roman Bonaccord is 29 (Sam is 15; Corinne is 7; Noah is 4).



Samantha felt unexpectedly nervous as she knocked on Cory's front door.  The house was on the edge of the wealthy part of town, and she could hear children laughing from inside as Cory answered the door.

"How did it go with Kyle?" she asked him, as they walked in.
Cory shrugged. "They had visitors, and it looked pretty intense, so we just dropped off the papers and left".

It was the only chance she'd get to speak to him all evening.  Cory introduced her to the rest of his family - his  father Serdar and stepmother Brandi, Cory's teenage daughter Samantha, or Sam as she preferred to be called, from his first marriage, and and his two younger children with Rose.  Helen arrived soon after Samantha, and they discussed the details of the townhouse while they waited for dinner.

Or tried to.  The household was far noisier and busier than anything Samantha was used to.

Samantha realized that it had been a long time since she'd been in the middle of such a whirl of domestic activity... and she was enjoying it immensely.  She wondered if people really appreciated it enough, when this was just their normal routine.

The chaos spilled over into the kitchen, but somehow Brandi managed to prepare dinner around it.

 "How do you even hear yourself think?!" Samantha asked Brandi.

"I'm used to it, I guess," she replied.  "When Serdar and I married, we each had three sons already.  Compared to having six young boys in the house, this is actually peaceful."

It was easier to talk over dinner.  Helen told them about her life away from Richmond, and her decision to move back. 
"What about you, Miss Bradshaw," Serdar asked.
"Samantha," she corrected him
"Samantha.  What brings you to Richmond?".
She knew it was only an attempt to be friendly, but she'd been dreading this line of conversation all evening.  She adopted what she hoped was a casual tone. "I don't know, really.  I'm a bit like Helen - it was time to make a new start and this looked like a good place to do it".
"Do you have family nearby"

"No." Might has well get it over with. "I don't really have any family.".
"There must be someone... I mean, you must have at least had parents at some stage."

She considered telling them that her family were dead or something, but somehow couldn't bring herself to lie. "My family live a long way away, we don't really have contact any more".
"I... see ".  Serdar was suddenly serious.  "Is that really a wise idea?  To lose contact with your family?  Surely you must wonder about them - and them about you?"
"I don't know, I don't really think about them much, and I doubt they think about me either."
"But - "

"I'm sorry, but I made the choice to stay out of contact with my family for a reason.  A good reason.  I doubt you could even - "
"Samantha - " Cory tried to cut in.
"All I meant was that - " Serder started.
They were interrupted, mercifully, by the telephone.  The call was for Rose, but it was enough to break them away from the awkward subject, and the conversation was more-or-less pleasant from there.

They continued chatting after dinner.  It was getting late and the kids went to bed, and Helen and Samantha said quick goodbyes as their cab honked from outside.  Samantha would go home with Helen to take a look at the room before making a final decision, although she was already quite sure she would take it.

"Miss Bradshaw... Samantha?"  Serdar stopped her on the doorstep.  "I'm sorry if I upset you, and I  know its probably none of my business, but I have to say that I still think its a mistake to break off contact with your family".
"Look, I know you mean well, but-"
"No, hear me out.  You might think you've made a choice for yourself, but you've left your family have no choice.  Have you ever considered that they might be missing you?"
"I doubt anyone is missing me."
"Do they actually know where you are?  Do they even know if you're still alive?"

"It's not your business, but whatever choices I've made, I've made for a reason.  Not all of us are lucky enough to have perfect storybook families like you."  she said sharply, turning to follow Helen to the cab.

----

The next morning at work, Cory was pleased when Samantha announced that she was moving in with Helen.  "You guys will get on great," he said.

Then he added, "About dinner last night, and Dad... sorry if he upset you.  He means well... sometimes he just doesn't know when to stop trying to fix other people's lives."

Samantha shrugged.  She didn't want Cory to feel responsible, and really, it didn't seem to matter as much as it had the night before.
"I know.  And I was probably a bit rude too... I mean, he's entitled to his opinion..."

"I guess.  I mean, its his house and he can say what he wants, but still..."

"I was wondering about that," Samantha said, grabbing at the chance to change the subject.  "The fact that it's your father's house.  I mean, I know its not that unusual for people to have elderly parents come live with them, but you make it sound like its the other way around - like you live with your parents."

Cory nodded.  "That's right, its my parents' house and we live with them."

"But why?  I mean, you've got a wife and kids yourself, isn't it a little unusual to still live with your Mum and Dad?"

Cory started to speak, then hesitated.  Sensing she'd stumbled into an awkward subject, Samantha started "Look, you don't have to -"
"No, it's not really any big secret.  Nothing is, in a town this size.  The thing is, we live with my father because he has legal custody of Sam.  When I divorced my first wife we were... things got messy.  I wasn't in the position to care for Sam, but it wasn't right for her to stay with her mother, either.  Dad stepped in and got custody.  It was the best thing for Sam at the time."

"But that must have been years ago.  Surely now - "

"I want it to stay like that.  If anything were to happen to me, Rose would get custody of our kids, but Sam... I don't want her living with her mother again.  So long as Dad has legal custody, she's still safe if I'm not there.  It makes more sense this way."

But it doesn't make sense, Samantha thought. Serdar had to be at least in his 70's.  Surely there was more chance of something happening to an old man than to...

...unless...

"Is there a particular reason to think that something is going to happen  to you?"
"No harm in being prepared," was the only answer he would give her, " and I need to get back to work."

Samantha let it go, partly for his sake, but also because she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that there was more to it, despite what he said... and that maybe she really didn't want to know.

----

The next day, she collected her things from the boarding house and went to Helen's townhouse.  Looking  back, it probably would have been a good idea to have let her know that she was coming.  Helen had never mentioned having a boyfriend.  But then, nor had she mentioned not having one.  And as she said later, she should have been more careful, given that she'd already given Samantha her spare key.

Certainly, it would have spared Samantha from walking right into an extremely awkward situation.

Once they'd all got over the shock - and put their clothes back on - Helen introduced the man as Roman.

Later that evening, when he had gone, the two women sat around talking well into the night.
"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Samantha said.

Helen laughed.  "Roman would be horrified if he heard you calling him my boyfriend", she said, "We're having fun, that's all.  I've had enough of serious relationships, at least for now."

"Same here", said Samantha.  She was finished with relationships too.  As far as she could remember, romantic involvement had been a cue for disaster, so much so that she had promised herself that she would avoid even the kind of no-strings fun Helen talked about having with Roman.  It just felt safer that way.

----

Samantha wasn't the only one to notice the noise when I played Cory's house... it wouldn't have been so bad if they'd just leave the %$#@ dog alone! :)  Every time one person finished playing razzle with it, someone else would start.  In the picture of Samantha talking to Brandi, Sam is actually queuing for her turn after her grandfather! Usually, my sims won't leave the babies/toddlers alone, but in this house, its the dog.

Brandi is Brandi Broke (this hood started out as Pleasantview), she and Serdar really did each have three young boys when they married, and the house was chaos!  As teens, Cory and Dustin Broke took an instant dislike to each other, there were fights whenever they were in the same room and all the younger kids would abandon their homework or whatever else I'd set them doing, to come and cheer their brothers on.  It was one of the hardest households I've ever played, and I was sooo relieved when the two eldest finally went to college (and separate households!)... Helen is the only child Brandi and Serdar had together, for obvious reasons, and I didn't let that happen until most of the boys were out of the house :)

I hadn't planned for Roman to make an appearance until his household comes into the story a few entries later, but Helen booty called him so I decided to let him have an early debut.  Samantha really did walk in on them after work.

And, wtf, Samantha?!?! 

This despite them taking an instant dislike to each other (which is part of why I picked him to be the one to prod her about her past... they were arguing with each other anyway).  Their relationship is something like -30 both ways right now, and still she has the hots for him!

No.  Just, no.