Advantages

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October 2027

River McIrish and Christopher Centowski are 12; Sandi French is 4; Fiona McIrish is 35; Allan Waters is  39; Dennis Waters is 16



River was trying really hard to dislike their new house.

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She figured she had a lot of good reasons to dislike it – to come here, they’d left behind their pretty apartment in the city, and the room-mates they’d shared it with for over three years. She’d left behind her school, and all her friends… and why?

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So that her mother could get engaged to Allan Waters.

They’d been happy the way they were. If Allan wanted to marry her mother, he should have at least moved into the city with them. But no, the adults had apparently figured that if they were going to be a ‘new family together’ or something, then they should start out in a new place.

Being a new family also meant that, after years of only having her mother, River not only had a stepfather…

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… she had step-brothers as well.

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Allan’s eldest son had left for university a few weeks ago, but his second son Dennis was only a couple of years older than her.

She wasn’t used to having brothers…

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… or to sharing her mother with all these other people. She was trying hard to dislike them, too.

To be honest, it was easier to dislike the people than the house. The house, at least had some advantages. It was large, and kind of pretty…

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… and her bedroom was big, bigger even than her mother’s room in their old apartment…

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… there were other kids living nearby to get to know…

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… including Christopher.

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He’d been sort-of new at school, too – his family had always lived in Richmond, but he’d just come back from boarding school. They quickly became best friends.

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They’d originally planned to spend the whole day together today, exploring the autumn festival at the park. But something came up, and now they only had the morning. She planned to make the most of it.

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They were too old for some of the stuff, like the fake-spooky house…

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… but there were plenty of other things to enjoy.

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She could talk to Christopher about most things, but he just didn’t seem to understand why she didn’t like her new family.

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But River didn’t really mind… Christopher was one of six kids, so how could he possibly understand!

The morning passed by quickly…

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… but that was ok too. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Christopher, she was looking forward to this afternoon as well.

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That was one thing she did like about about moving to Richmond – Molly and Sandi were here now too.

Molly was River’s mother’s old friend, and she’d moved in with them not long after her baby Sandi was born. Three years later when Fiona sold her apartment, Molly had decided they’d move back to Richmond, Molly’s hometown, as well.

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She’d rented a cute converted fisherman’s cottage out by the lake. It was so pretty, and River loved visiting there.

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She also loved seeing Sandi, who was kind of like a little sister after knowing River pretty much all her life.

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“It’s still warm outside. Do you want to go for a walk?” River asked her.
“Don’t care,” said Sandi.
“Well, we could go for a walk down to the lifeguard’s tower, then buy something to eat on the way back.”
“Don’t care, but no pizza. We had too much pizza!”
“How come?” River said. “Your mother’s a really good cook.”

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“Mama says she cooks at work. She don’t wanna cook at home too. So pizza!”

River wasn’t surprised. Molly wasn’t exactly a domestic person. She always had more important things to do.

Like catching up with old friends…

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… or making new ones, like the attractive guy who moved in next door.

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Sandi agreed to the walk along the shore…

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This was the part of her new hometown that River loved the most…

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Back in the house, they ate a not-pizza dinner, the had hot chocolate while they waited for Molly to come home.

“I wish you still lived with us,” said Sandi.

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“So do I,” said River. “but I can still visit you, and be your babysitter. And you can visit me, too.”

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“Can we have a sleepover?”
“Sure, if you like, I guess that would be ok,” said River.
“Cool,”, Sandi clapped. “I really wanna have a sleepover. Mama makes sleepovers all the time. I never do.”

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“She does?”
“Yeah. Her friends come to watch sports. When the sports-game goes really late they sleep over.”

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“Ok… “

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“So I can have sleepover like big kids and we can watch tv late and we can put on makeup and you can make my hair pretty and…”

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“Wait, you’re too young for makeup and I don’t even wear it myself… and I don’t know much about making hair pretty, either…
“Awwww….”
“Well… I have some lip gloss that just makes your lips shiny and it tastes like bubblegum… you could use some of that… and I could probably braid your hair… “

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Sandi suddenly  jumped up and ran across the room, the minute they heard the key in the lock.

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“Hi Mama when can I have my big girl sleepover with River she’s gonna braid my hair and she has bubblegum-makeup, and -“

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“Hey, slow down,” River said. “We haven’t decided anything yet. I still have to ask Mum… and Allan, I guess…”

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River promised she’d ask that evening, but at dinner she found she couldn’t. Not when there was something else going on…

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They denied it at first, but River wasn’t going to be fooled.
“Oh, come on,” she said, looking at her mother, then at Allan. “You two keep giving each other these looks… just like when you told us you got engaged. What’s going on?”

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“Well,” said Allan, “there is something we want to tell you.” He looked at Fiona again.

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“We’ve decided that we want to try to have a baby.”

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“You want to what?!”
“Have a baby,” Fiona repeated.
“You can’t!” said River. “You’re too old.”
Fiona laughed. “I’m the same age as Molly, and Sandi is only four.”

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“That’s different. Molly doesn’t have a teenager as well. You can’t!”
“Honey, I’m not asking your permission.”

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“Then why did you even bother to tell me about it!”

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“What are you doing,” River asked, surprised to find Dennis out on the deck. “Looking at the stars?”

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“There’s too much light here to see many stars,” Dennis said, “but the moon is really clear. Do you want to look?”
“I can’t see anything,” she said.

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“Tilt it down a little…”

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“Wow! Oh, wow, you’re right… I can see craters and everything!”

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“So… umm… you still upset about the baby thing?” he asked suddenly. “ ‘Cause, I’d have kind of expected you to be happy.”
“Why?”

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“Well, because girls like babies and stuff like that… don’t they?”
“Not all girls…”
“Yeah, but you like your friend’s little girl.”

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“That’s different…”
“If you say so…”
“So, what do you think about the baby” she asked.

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“I think it could have some advantages.”
“What kind of advantages?”

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“Well, for example… Dad’s always on at me about spending too much time on my computer, or with the telescope. If he had a baby to fuss over, he might get off my back a bit”
“Maybe…

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…Hey, I’ve just had an idea!”
“Yeah?”

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“You should take the telescope to the lake. It’s really dark out there at night, and you’d probably see lots of stars… I bet Molly would let you set it up right behind her house.”
“That’s a great idea! It’s getting darker earlier, we could probably go one evening after dinner.”
“You want me to come with you?” River asked.
“Sure… I’m not going to just turn up at your friend’s house… and anyway, it was your idea… if you want to, I mean. ”

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“Yeah, why not? I’d be fun…”

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River was trying really hard to dislike her new family, but sometimes it was hard to do that.

Dennis had suggested that there could be some advantages to the situation. She’d have to think about that. She suspected he wasn’t altogether wrong… although she wasn’t quite ready to admit it yet.

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Maybe someday, but not quite yet.

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TS3 players may recognise River, Fiona, Molly and Sandi as the Single Moms household from Sunset Valley. They were the household I played the most, in my long-ago first TS3 playthrough. I had it on a short lifespan, and I think I played all the way to River and Sandi’s grandchildren or so. I became so attached to them, that I considered recreating them in Richmond.

I never got around to doing that, but now that we’re in their game, I thought they’d earned their place in my hood, just for introducing me to the game. Fiona is supposed to be older than Molly, but I decided to make them both in their mid-30’s, as this seemed a reasonable age to have a 4 year old, or a 12 year old.

I moved them in and set them loose with pretty much full autonomy via NRAAS Story Progression, as I do with all my ‘Townies’ (game-created Sims that I haven’t played or pulled into my hood story). I was delighted when Fiona developed a relationship Allan (the engagement was autonomous), and River with Christopher. And Molly didn’t take long to find Roman. Of course.

When I moved them into a house together, River’s relationship with Allan was up and down all over the place, but she did make friends with Dennis. Allan and Fiona meanwhile are autonomously trying for a baby via the NRAAS equivalent of ACR. I kind of hope they’re successful. One of the advantages of Story Progression in this situation is that they’ll keep trying even when I’m not playing them… will watch and see what develops :)





Comments

  1. Oh wow, I was wondering why they didn't seem that familiar to me. I don't play TS3 that often so the Single Moms household is new to me. I like all the family dynamics you showed.

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    1. Thanks... they almost ended up in my TS2 game, but I never got around to recreating them.

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  2. I remember the Single Moms family! River was my favourite of those four, though I never got as far with them as you did.

    I did laugh when I saw Molly meeting up with Roman! What a total non-surprise, lol!

    Anyway, I hope Allan and Fiona are successful with their TFB...but then, I'm almost always hoping for successful TFBs! And it's nice that River is bonding a little bit with Dennis and realising he's not so bad. :)

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    1. River was my favorite too! I played on a really short lifespan the first time just to see how lifespans worked with story progression. I'm hoping for a successful tfb too, I need more TS3 babies.

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