I was just back from picking up Mom from that deserted pool party than my phone rang again.

This time, it was a surprise call from my cousin, Rosie Wonderland Beaker.

“I’m having a baby!” Rosie squealed. “Come over and celebrate and bring me stuff!”

“Don’t you usually invite girls to these things?” I asked.

“Oh, come on,” Rosie said. “You’re secure in your masculinity. Come to my baby shower!”

“When you put it that way, sure,” I said.

I headed over to the combination suburban house and horse farm that Rosie and her husband Loki shared with my Aunt Deanne.

I had to admit that the place was looking very swank these days.

Rosie met me at the gate. “Thanks so much for coming, coz!”

She escorted me inside, where I ran into Eclipse, one of the family cats from when I was a kid.

He really is a noble old cat, don’t you think?

Rosie’s face lit up. “It’s good to see you, coz!”

We took some time at the party to catch up on family news.

In the way we Wonderlands communicate best.

“I’ve finally grown into my vampire powers,” I told her. “Take a look at what I can do now. Ooooo….”

“Ewww. What’s wrong with your face?” Rosie asked. “Are you sick or something?”

Hmmm. I’m going to have to practice that power some more.

In the kitchen, my childhood friend Jennika Wong was talking about foreign films with another one of Rosie’s friends.

Foreign films! That’s a favorite subject of mine.

Did you here about The Spanish Eggplant? That was my favorite movie last month. You couldn’t understand it, even with the subtitles.

Jennika was delighted. “I’ve been meaning to see that movie!”

I think her friend was avoiding making eye contact, though. Probably because she knows I’m a vampire with a powerful psychic gaze.

All in all, it was a great party for a baby shower.

The rest of the family wasn’t too interested in Rosie’s upcoming baby, but they kept themselves occupied.

Justin is getting to be quick the free throw athlete. He uses that muscle shirt to remind you of how strong he’s getting.

Mom was downstairs, playing chess.

She insists that she was playing with that figment of her imagination she calls Bungle.

Helen played survival horror video games with the ghost of her grandmother. An interesting choice, that.

Imogen sat out in the moonlight, mooning herself and complaining about the cat scratched dining chairs.

I guess she had a point. The cats were really on a rampage.

Minnie was pretty good about scratching where she was supposed to.

But that didn’t explain the state of Mom’s Private Investigator award.

Daisy looked a little too satisfied with herself.

At least they get on well with each other. These here are Goofy (left) and Micky (right).

After the party, I headed to the community garden. I am a creature of living death. Perhaps that’s why I just can’t get enough of green growing things. There’s just nothing like digging in a garden after midnight.

I got home in time to see my younger siblings off to school.

It’s important that everyone have a good breakfast, you know, with lots of vegetables.

“I can’t help but notice how much you’re scratching yourself,” Gideon said to Imogen. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know!” Imogen said. “I’ve just been so itchy!”

“When is the last time you took a bath?” I asked Imogen.

I’m not sure she took the hint.

The sun was up, and I should be in vampiric slumber, but for some reason I just wasn’t into it. What I really needed was a hot cup of overpriced latte.

I decided to go to the local new age coffeehouse. They have a lot of shade.

There I ran into Priscilla Singh and her lovely daughter Jodie.

Priscilla had her dog on, and she was all over me like a puppy.

We played out on the deck for a while.

Werewolves are so cute when they fetch.

I couldn’t play long, though. My skin was starting to catch fire. Still, I asked Priscilla for a snack, and she was happy to oblige.

Then I dashed back inside before I caught fire. Jody was there.

The Singhs are such friendly people. Or maybe they’re just easy to manipulate with my vampiric charm.

Enough was enough. I needed to get dead for a while.

---

Hooray. Another session without fails!

I should put Franklin’s LTW goals on the Scoresheet, though. I believe he has drunk from 3/20 sims and turned 1/5 sims.

Mate prospects: Jennika Wong is mermaid, though you couldn’t tell it from this story segment.

Here’s our evidence, from one of Erin’s stakeouts:

Jodie Singh is a werewolf, but I really don’t think she has an interesting enough face to join this challenge.

Of the werewolves, the mate candidate would be Ginny Septik, daughter of EA maid Anne T. Septik who I loaded into this game from another world because of her amazing face.

(In fact, I made a roommates household with wolfied homeless EA sims from other worlds with amazing faces; in addition to Anne, I also have Lucy Ferne and Dee Liver. Their kids are not old enough to be candidates this generation, but they’ll move with us wherever the family goes to keep making interesting babies.)

There are a few fairies, the best being Girbits Worthington, an import from Starlight Shores.

I have a thing for Girbits. He’ll be marrying in at some point, but since he’s a fairy, there’s no hurry.

I was PLANNING to have a mate poll, but I think now that I’ve played through for a bit, I know who Franklin is going to pick. I’m curious if anyone has opinions, though.

I’m overdue for a cat poll. We have four really good choices for the next generation of cats.

Also, I think I am going to hold a poll on where the family will move next.

That ought to be enough polls for one generation, don’t you think?

I’m not entirely sure if I have enough readers left after my long hiatus to make polling a good idea 🙂 :).

Age has hit mom swiftly, but she still tries to contribute to the family funds.

I appreciate her methods. They’re…. creative.

Mom’s Private Investigation business has really been on the rocks recently, and §19 pay the rent and feed a household of six sims.

I had to think of some way to make money, and fast. Getting a regular job is just out of the question, though. I am not going to reduce myself to becoming a wage slave for The Man. I have standards.

The rain kept the sun off my skin, so I was able to go out earlier in the afternoon to look for some source of income. Perhaps it was the remnants of the sunlight glinting on the ground that gave me inspiration.

Aurora Skies is a treasure trove of minerals. Sims have all sorts of uses for minerals. Both art and science. I’d be doing society a favor by collecting and distributing the minerals I find.

Well, by “Distributing,” I mean, “Selling for as much money as I can get.”

With that goal in mind, I headed at vampire speed to the consignment store. I got there right before it closed. I’m lucky they keep late hours.

“You won’t mind if I use your gem cutter, would you?” I asked the proprietress. “I didn’t think so. Thanks!”

“Yeah right,” the proprietress said.

It’s great that the Consignment Store keeps a gem cutter. My family would never let me run this thing while they’re asleep.

“Would you stop that racket?” the proprietress shouted.

What was she expecting, anyway?

Perfect.

With a collection of profitable gems on consignment, I headed home to sleep the sleep of the dead.

While I slept, my family did family stuff.

Helen got a call from her classmate Evan Clark, who asked her out on a date.

Evan’s a pretty interesting guy. He says he was some kind of science experiment conducted by his parents. I guess that’s as reasonable an explanation as any.

The date started out well. Evan told Helen that he thought she was beautiful, and he’d always had a crush on her in school.

Then he started yelling at her for not passing him notes in English class.

Helen is now screening his calls.

Mom’s good friend Yuri Apple-Svard invited Mom to a pool party with her husband Stefan and Jakob Ingberg.

When she arrived, the Apple-Svards had decided to ditch their own party, but Jakob was still around.

“Come on in,” he called. “The water’s fine!”

“This is a nice pool!” Mom said.

“I know!” Jakob said. “I always come over here so that I don’t have to install a pool at my place. Pardon me. I have to go to the bathroom.”

Mom swam around while she waited for Jakob.

“Wow,” she thought. “I hope he didn’t fall in.”

It started to get dark. Mom suddenly realized that she’d been swimming for hours. She was exhausted. Even worse, her skin was all pruny.

But how to get out of the pool? She knew there was a ladder around somewhere. Where could it be?

With her last gasp of strength, she grabbed the deck and pulled herself out of the water. To heck with ladders anyway.

She wandered into the Apple-Svard house, looking for Jakob or Yuri, but the place was deserted.

Someone had recently eaten dinner and then left. So strange.

I was just up and looking for breakfast when my phone rang.

“Mom, is that you? What are you doing out so late?”

“Franklin!” Mom said. “This party is a bust! Come and pick me up!”

---

No fails.

Holy crap, Erin! Don’t scare me like that!

Here we have our second mate candidate for Franklin: Evan Clark, a plantsim. This adds to Jiao Hatfield, who is a genie. The Wonderlands have a grand tradition of pansexuality, so all YA, Adult, or Teen sims are candidates (i.e. teens can be aged up).

Evan is a stock sim from Aurora Skies who was a toddler when the Wonderlands moved in. I assigned supernatural status to a bunch of random sims, and apparently he was one of them. I love his face.

 

I woke up at dusk and headed downstairs.

“Hello, sleepyhead,” Mama said.

“Mom!” I said. “I’m undead! Treat me with dignity!”

“Oh, is being undead dignified? You should have told that to your father.”

I looked around. The kitchen was empty except for me and Mom.

“Oh, they’re about,” Mom said, and she proceeded to tell me.

Justin was brown-nosing his teacher by running errands outside of class.

Imogen said she had to do some research for a book report.

A book she really, really hated.

Helen was admiring herself.

Before I could get Mom to stop the family gossip, the phone rang. Not a moment too soon!

It was Linn Valstrom. Why was she calling me?

Oh, right…. she’s my girlfriend.

“Hey Frankie!” she cooed on the other end of the line. “I haven’t seen you in ages! We should totally get together tonight!”

Frankie?

“I was planning to write poetry tonight,” I admitted, “but it could be fun to go out on a date. What did you have in mind?”

“I’ll meet you at the bowling alley in half an hour,” Linn said and hung up.

Bowling? That’s not really my style, or really any style at all, but I guess it was decided.

While I was standing outside the bowling alley, thinking about how the wall decorations are such a joke, Linn came up behind me.

“Frankie! I’ve missed you so much!” She cried. “You are the sun that lights up my life.”

“That’s a pretty flawed analogy,” I said. “I can’t even go out in the sun. I burn up, remember? Perhaps I can be the clouds that block out your sun.”

“Hmm,” Linn said. “That doesn’t have the same ring to it.

So we went inside to bowl for a while.

This place makes my eyes hurt. It’s filled with tasteless patterns that clash with other tasteless patterns. Pings and beeps and buzzes. Dim lights with bright flashes. This place needs to pick a theme and stick to it.

In spite of the artistic disaster, it turns out that I am brilliant at bowling.

“One pin left!” I shouted to Linn. “Beat that.”

“All, right!” she cried. “Did that!”

Meanwhile, Mom was having a romantic adventure of her own.

Magnus Mango asked her out on a date.

I guess she’s over my dad and ready to move on. If I were in her place, I would still be pining away in grief, but I guess I can’t judge. She doesn’t have the same appreciation of the beautiful darkness of despair that Dad and I do.

They met in the forest at dusk. Apparently, there was some real chemistry between Mom and Magnus.

But just as things were starting to get good, he had the uncontrollable urge to go rob a grocery store or something.

Mom knows how to pick them.

At least she had a chance to catch up on her reading. In the woods alone. In the dark.

While she was gone, Gideon realized that he had been eating dinner for hours, and he was exhausted.

So he went to get another bite to eat.

I think he needs to review the correct procedure to deal with sleepiness.

“I think I have humiliated you enough at bowling,” Linn said. “Do you have any other ideas for the evening?”

I took her into my arms. “Of course!” I said. “The evening’s just getting started.”

“Of course! You’re such a romantic! Get ready for a big dip!”

“We have dated all the way through high school,” I said. “Now that we’re both adults, I wonder if you would like to take this relationship to the next level.”

“Oh Frankie!” Linn said. “I thought you’d never ask.”

I dropped my voice low, purring so that only she could hear it. “I can’t help it. You just seem so …. delicious.”

“You really are delicious!”

Mmmm!

“Frankie!” Linn said “That wasn’t what I had in mind at all!”

“No?” I said. “I can do one better. Come closer.”

“Let me show the darkness inside of me!”

“That closer to what you had in mind?”

“Um, no,” Linn said. “Why don’t I just show you?”

So we left the bowling alley and headed to the much more tastefully artistic theater.

“So you want to see a film?” I said. “I hope it’s a foreign independent one.”

“Not exactly,” she said. “Just follow me.”

“Well, I appreciate the darkness….” I said.

“Hush,” Linn said.

Oh.

Ooooooh.

“NOW our relationship is on the next level,” Linn said.

“This has been the most enlightening night,” I said. “I have shown you the darkness of my soul, and you’ve shown me the pinnacles of pleasure. The sun is rising now, so I must leave you. My dark soul will call to yours for every moment we’re apart.”

“Sure thing, I guess,” Linn said. “Maybe the woohoo will be better next time.”

---

Another post!

My parents visited for a week, so I got even less done than usual. I’m also finally starting to get a sense of Franklin’s voice.

Also, Gideon, what the heck?

Passing out: 22 + 1 = 23

Linn is not a spouse candidate, due to being normal human until Franklin turned her — I love that bat animation for making vampires. He has 4 more sims to turn for that part of his LTW, and it may be a challenge to find that many normal humans!

Oh, is that you there? Hello.

My name is Franklin. Franklin Wonderland.

I’m ready to take over this household and bring it something that it has been missing from the very beginning.

A sense of style.

I’ve spent a lot of time meditating on the purpose of my life. I’ve decided that I am going to dedicate it to bringing the dark, smoldering beauty of the soul to the Simworld.

My father never got a chance to make his mark. I’m going do what he never had a chance to do.

You can’t even guess how my dark soul sang when I finally celebrated my birthday. No more school! No more stifling conventionality to force me to live the lifestyle They chose for me.

Most importantly, no more waking up in the morning and sleeping at night in order to participate in the mind control known as “education.” I was free.

Everyone else went to sleep at night, but I had other plans.

I was off to see the world.

Starting with the cafe at the amusement park. I was dying for a latte.

That’s a joke, by the way. Unsophisticated form of art, but I couldn’t resist.

I remembered the barista from my last visit here for my baby brother’s birthday. She seemed cuter than I remembered.

I ordered a tall soy cinnamon mocha. The little bit of cinnamon makes up for the lack of blood.

She was delighted to make it for me.

“Everyone else orders such boring coffee!” she said. “I wish more picky people you like you came here.”

Hmm. I prefer to call myself “discerning.”

Afterward, I was thirsty. You know, thirsty. So I started up a conversation with the cute barista. I really turned up the charm.

“Who are you?” I asked. “Your eyes are like fire.”

“I look into those eyes, and I lose all sense of balance. Tell me how you do it.”

“You are so cute!” she squealed. “That’s the most creative pickup line I’ve ever heard. My name is Jiao Hatfield.”

“Don’t worry, Jiao,” I said. “This won’t hurt a bit. You’ll even enjoy it.”

“What!” Jiao gasped. “What are you doing with your eyes!”

Then it was like a bomb going off at the base of my skull.

“Whoa, lady, what are you?”

There was a whole lot more to this girl that meets the eye!

“Are you all right?” Jiao asked.

“Please don’t bleed. I can’t stand the sight of blood!”

“Please help….” I whispered.

“Yes! Please let me help!” Jiao cried.

“I need…. I think I need your phone number.”

“I think you’d better leave, mister.”

Well, that was unkind!

I was still desperately thirsty. I decided to ask the crystal ball to help me find someone with a drinkable blood supply.

This is encouraging! It looks like my meal will come to me!

The sun was rising. I headed home before I got too burnt.

My brothers and sisters were getting ready for school and generally being responsible citizens. The poor deluded souls. Someday their minds will expand, and they will understand that there are better ways to be.

“Hey, Gideon,” I said. “Do you think you could do the dishes before you leave? This place is a mess.”

“You could help around here,” Gideon shot back.

“Ah, but you see,” I explained. “I don’t eat food, so I don’t dirty dishes. This is your problem.”

I did get a chance to catch up on family gossip.

Aunt Caitlin is doing quite well for herself.

But Uncle Christof thinks a lot more like me.

 

After a while, I realized that one of my siblings was missing. “Hey,” I said. “Where’s Helen?”

“Oh, she’s around,” Mom said. “She said she had to pick something up before school.”

 

“You all have really inspired me with your entrepreneurial spirit,” I said. “It’s making me wonder if I ought to alter my philosophy.”

“Perish the thought!”

---

No fails! (Yes)

Here we are. I finally started Generation 3. Jiao Hatfield is, obviously, one of Franklin’s mate prospects. I liked her when I saw her in the amusement park coffee shop before, but she was Face One, so I randomized her face in CAS. I think she came out adorable.

But there are other options. Hang tight.

This was a really hard post to get into the spirit for. I’m in the middle of a really miserable job hunt, and I learned in January that I’m infertile after my husband and I spent over a year trying for a second kid. So it’s been kind of a crappy 2016 so far. I’m working on keeping my head up. The sludge can’t last forever.

Franklin was up to do his homework before the sun came up. He just prefers to do everything in the dark if he can. I think it’s the creature of the night genes he got from his father. Oh, his father. Sigh.

But he was in for a surprise. When the sun came up, he decided to go downstairs to get some blood for breakfast, but the way was blocked.

I guess Bungle was feeling a little passive-aggressive that morning.

Everyone else was able to get ready for school on their own.

I love it that they’re so independent these days. It lets me do other things with my life.

My kids were all very responsible. They went straight to school and stood around all morning trying to find the door, just like the rest of the kids in town. I’m so proud of them.

The cats are also taking care of themselves. We barely have to feed them. Goofy cleans up all the food that the kids drop when they’re feeding themselves, so we don’t have to deal with ants.

Micky hunts in the pond.

Minnie keeps with tradition.

Even Mikhail and Nova haven’t lost that lovin’ feeling.

They look so cute together, rolling around in the upstairs bathroom, which I haven’t cleaned in a generation.

So where was I?

Oh, right! Receiving the highest honor that the town can bestow on a civilian!

That’s right. Yours truly received the key to the city from the new mayor of Aurora Skies. The old one resigned on indictment for taking bribes. I might have had a little bit to do with that.

I knelt and let the new guy knight me. And the crowd went wild.

It was a perfect moment — the pinnacle of my career. Most folks don’t get this kind of recognition for their contribution to their town. Then again, most people probably don’t contribute as much as I do either.

“I hope we have a long and mutually beneficial relationship,” the mayor said. He shook my hand just a little too long. I think I should go wash it.

I was ready to celebrate, and there was only one way I could think of to do it. I headed over to the dojo.

Oskar Olsen. He was just where I expected him to be.

He greeted me so warmly. “Detective Wonderland! What a nice surprise!”

So here’s the deal. It turns out that Shawn Ivy knew what she was talking about after all. Ever since I conned intelligence out of him at his own football party, I hadn’t been able to get Oskar out of my head.

“I’ve been thinking of you every day,” I said. “I think we might really be able to make some fireworks. And by fireworks, I don’t mean lights in the sky.”

Oskar looked sad. “I really like you, Erin,” he said. “But you know I have a partner.”

I hesitated. Oskar had been with his boyfriend as long as I’d been living in Aurora Skies. They were a good couple. I needed to respect that.

Oh, to heck with all that.

“W-wow,” Oskar said. “That was amazing!”

If only Oskar’s boyfriend could see us now.

Then again, he’s not bad either. Maybe we could get him to join in.

“You guys are so cute!” a pregnant yogi exclaimed nearby. “Maybe you two will make some ghost babies together!”

Nothing doing. Nothing.

The kids had a convocation after school, so I had to leave before Oskar and I could really get rolling.

I found Imogen at the caffeine again.

I think the proprietor of the school coffee shop is encouraging her. There’s just something about that guy.

But on to the convocation.

Franklin had a debate club…. recital?

OK, I confess. I don’t even remember what after school clubs they’re signed up for.

My kids better get some awards, because I cleared out my private investigator schedule for this.

  

Nope. Both got some kind of honorable mention.

I hope both my boys appreciate how much I love them. I could have made a lot of money solving a case, but I sat around watching them get a non-award for participation.

Then I loaded us up into the minivan to go home.

Except Gideon, who looked embarrassed and wanted to go home alone.

Good thing, too, because he really stank.

When I got home and counted the kids, I came up one short.

“Hey, where’s Justin?” I asked.

“He wanted to stay at school and sleep in the treehouse,” Helen told me.

Oooookay. I hope he remembers to wake up for class.

When we got home, Franklin and Helen headed outside for some one-on-one basketball.

“Can I join in?” I asked. “It seems like it would be a good time for some mom-kid bonding.”

Helen rolled her eyes. “Mom, how can we make two teams with three people?”

“Maybe I’ll be on both teams,” I said.

“I don’t think you get how this works,” Franklin said.

“Who cares!” I said. “Let’s just shoot some hoops!”

Ouch!

Then my phone rang.

“Hey Branden!” I said. “What? You want to wish Franklin a happy birthday? But it’s not Franklin’s –”

Oh. Whoops.

———-

Self-peeing: 13 + 1 = 14

Huh. I totally thought I’d already posted this. I logged on to do my first post for Frankin’s generation, and I found this one still in my drafts! Well, here we sign off with Erin and prepare for a bold, new, impeccably stylish new torch holder.

Farewell, Erin. She had a precious short time as torch holder, since her eldest won the heir poll. It was a nice final day, where she got to receive the Key to the City *and* fulfill her wish to kiss Oskar Olsen that had been lingering since she heart-farted him while on a case. I was kind of hoping he’d call her for a date or something after she turned idiot and they’d develop some kind of romance, but as of this playing no go.

I’m going to miss her. She was a lot of fun. And she DID max her career, which was nice, even though she didn’t reach a LTW. I haven’t completely given up on that, btw. The Logic-and-Athletics LTW is something that in theory I can have Franklin push her to work on as an idiot. We’ll see.

Erin was actually in the process of calling for a birthday party when Franklin aged up. It was just after dark, and I thought I had more time. Whoops! Well, that’s about right for an ISBI anyway.

Oh, and as a nice touch, the key to the city ceremony actually WORKED! This is the third time I’ve triggered this opportunity, and both other times failed. It doesn’t work for the City Hall rabbithole rug OR any EA City Hall combined rabbitholes. Aurora Skies has a dedicated City Hall rabbithole, so I gave it one more shot. Dang, it’s cool. I wish it weren’t so finicky.

I’ve played several days of Franklin, and I’m trying to make sense of him. I guess we’ll see how his voice comes out in the next post.

Stay tuned for a cat heir poll, too! The departure of the spares will be good for clearing out the household for moar cat breeding.

The boys headed home after school, but Imogen had been up for thirty-six hours on coffee alone, and she was ready for a new challenge.

She decided to shadow her Aunt Caitlin for a school report on… whatever it is Caitlin does at her office building.

Back at home, we had some birthdays to celebrate for the littlest members of our family.

Goofy grew up!

Also Daisy, though she did it more quietly.

Imogen really enjoyed working with Caitlin.

Until her coffee buzz finally crashed.

And she got a caffeine headache.

So instead of going home to get some sleep, she decided to show off some of her magic for the pantsless paparazzi.

When she didn’t come home for dinner, I had to call her. “This is your mother. Do you know where my daughter is?”

She took the hint and headed home.

The paparazzi was a little slow on the trigger.

But apparently, she made her deadline by making up crap. Poor Imogen.

After a good sleep, Justin came downstairs dressed to the nines

so he could pick up his toys. What a nice boy. Maybe he’s the secret angel who mopped up all the water from the broken washing machine. I never did figure out who did that.

I went hunting for my wrench to go work on that blasted dishwasher.

Bungle found me. “Whatcha doin’?” he asked.

“The same thing I always do,” I told him bitterly. “Holding this family together with chewing gum and bailing wire. I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth it.”

Bungle’s goggle eyes rolled with surprise. “Why would you say that?” he asked.

“Well, it’s not like I’ve been able to work toward my big goals in life,” I said. “I’ll never solve all the cases I wanted to solve. The kids just slow me down too much.”

Bungle thought about it. “I suppose so, but you’re at the top of your profession. Is solving a lot more cases really what you want out of life?”

I thought about it. “You know, I guess I’ve really been wanting to work out. You know, get in shape, be stronger and faster. I spend a lot of time hitting the books, and it makes me feel sluggish.”

“Then maybe the problem is that you’re dreaming of the wrong thing!”

Everything become so much clearer! “You might be right about something for the first time in your life!” I said to Bungle. “I knew you were my best friend for a reason. Thanks!”

“Is it the migraine, or is Mom talking to thin air?” Imogen asked.

“If you ask me, she’s a little bit looony,” Gideon said. My family so supportive.

Wait a minute, maybe I did have a screw loose! I don’t have to fix this blasted dishwasher again! I have magic!

Take that!

After questioning my sanity, Imogen decided to go to bed to sleep off her headache.

But she was barely asleep when she jumped up

and fell out of bed. Maybe next time she won’t try to take the chemical way out and sleep more than once in two days.

Gideon was a good boy. He looked over his sleeping brother and did his homework.

Helen was out playing hoops while her siblings screwed up their bedtime.

And she’s gotten pretty good at it, I have to say. I think those swim flippers give her extra lift.

I went out to check on her. “Hey, you’re shoving that ball through the hoop in a pretty angry way. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, Mom. You’re giving all the attention to the screwups. I didn’t even show up in the last chapter because I actually went to bed!”

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” I said. “Sometimes it’s really hard to be the responsible one. I really appreciate that you didn’t give me any trouble today. And now it’s bedtime again, so why don’t you head off and get some rest?”

“Are you kidding, Mom!” Helen cried. “You can’t treat me like a child! I’m not going to do what you say!”

Then she went to bed.

Sometimes I think the best way to get a kid to be responsible is to treat them like a screwup.

And then the house was quiet.

Everyone was sleeping… somewhere. Some of them even in their own beds.

It was a beautiful moment.

———-

OK, should I could Imogen’s fail? She literally climbed into her bed, got under the covers, and started sleeping, then canceled the action so she could get out of bed and pass out. GAH.

I guess I will, because Sims.

Passing Out: 22 + 1 = 23

I’d never seen the twirly-finger-by-the-ear thing that sims do when they walk by someone talking to her IF. So funny, especially in this house!

Helen was indeed the only kid who slept the previous night, but she still got in trouble — maybe from heading to school a little late? At any rate, that scene was Erin letting her off the hook. Then Erin suggested she go to bed. Helen refused, and they got a negative relationship. Then Helen went to bed.

I am the proud kid sister of a corporate climber! Caitlin called to tell me she’s been promoted into middle management. I think that’s pretty high. She was really excited about it anyway.

She still hangs out with her twin a lot, which I think is sweet. I’m not sure they were that close when they actually lived together.

Deanne has given up on girls for a while and is focusing on her garden. It seems to be working out better for her.

And Caitlin’s youngest daughter is a child! I can’t believe time has passed so quickly.

Yup. She’s definitely a Wonderland.

As for me, I’m just THE new security consultant for City Hall. After I exposed the Mayor’s corruption, they fell all over themselves to get me on the payroll.

They even made up a new award, just so they could give me a medal.

It’s a nice fashion accessory, if I do say so myself.

I got out of my consultation with the city cabinet late, and I needed to do some research,

so I headed over to the library.

It has a pretty extensive collection of financial records.

I found evidence of embezzlement! That got me a promotion and a hefty finder’s fee.

I was so busy, I decided not to head home to watch over the kids at dinnertime. I mean, how bad could it be?

They’re smart kids, and I provide them a great example of personal responsibility.  I’m sure they can get themselves to bed.

Well, that’s what I thought, anyway. I found out later that they stayed up all night.

When I got home, Imogen was looking for her energy at the bottom of a coffee mug. “Who needs sleep when you have caffeine?” she said.

Franklin was even too tired to complain about the art.

“I’m not sure I can go to school today,” Gideon said. “I’m not feeling so well.”

I wasn’t terribly sympathetic. “I bet you aren’t,” I said. “You’re going anyway.”

So they all grabbed their brooms and trooped off to school.

Where I hear the the school day was delayed by a rampaging werewolf.

I was just finishing breakfast when Franklin walked in the door.

“What the heck are you doing here?” I cried. “You’re supposed to be at school!”

“I thought you’d be out on a case by now!” he said. “I just wanted to grab a bite to eat!”

He headed to the fridge to grab a pack of blood, but he didn’t make it.

He could have slept in his own bed, but I guess the kitchen tile will do when you’re a pigheaded teenager.

When he picked himself up off the floor, I handed him his broom.

“I have to go back to school, huh,” he said.

“You got it in one guess,” I replied. “And I’m going to follow you there to make sure you go in.”

This time, Franklin made it in, just in time to fall asleep in math class.

So what did I see standing outside in the schoolyard?

“Giddiyup little horsey!” Gideon cried. “Oh, Mom, I didn’t see you there.”

“What in Simworld are you doing??” I shouted. “Are you crazy?”

“Yeah, Mom!” he said. “I got it from you!”

Then he ran away from me…

…and flew all the way home.

“All, right then,” I said, “I’ll drive you to school.”

So I escorted him into the van.

Wait, what?

“I think school just let out,” Gideon explained.

Why do I bother??

After school, Imogen headed to the campus coffee shop to load up on more caffeine. I think she’d been up more than 24 hours at this point, but she was going strong.

Justin passed out from exhaustion as soon as he stepped out of the school.

His cousin Ben, Caitlin’s older kid, stopped to make sure he was all right. Then, instead of helping, he just stood there and leered for a while.

Clearly my sister is raising her kids right. 

 

 

 

Once Justin picked himself up and headed home, it was Franklin’s turn.

“Aiee! Not the sunlight!” he wailed.

So at least he passed out in the shade.

At home, Justin went up to his bedroom and stood staring at his bed as if trying to figure out what to do with it.

But figured it out before I came up there to shove him bodily into bed.

Franklin didn’t seem so conflicted.

All these vampire kids prefer William’s old tomb.

Whew. Now that’s over. I hope.

———-

Passing out: 19 + 3 = 22

Well, that was a traumatic first game session back on the ISBI. After staying up all night, both older boys queue dropped their go-to-school action from fatigue and went home. Erin tried to drive Franklin back in the Motive Mobile, but he pushed back to school by himself while she was executing her action, so she ended up driving to school by herself and finding Gideon — who then went home, and lather rise repeat.

I’m not counting Gideon passing out from seeing a werewolf transform. That’s not about needs. Apparently, that happens in the school entrance line EVERY DAY. Is there some reason the town teen wolves feel the need to transform while going to school every day? Also I think that puddle at school is from students peeing themselves in terror…. ew.

On the positive side, Erin topped her career! Sadly, that doesn’t get her a LTW. It’s still cool, though, and it should help with her pension when she retires. This family is not exactly rolling in the money.

Two more posts before the passing of the torch!