Family Helps and Sandi Ages Up

The memory was kind of hazy, but River remembered driving by after a late night drop-off of a painting to a customer and seeing her step-sister, Cait talking to a white-haired woman and River's brain kind of clicked that her stepsister had on a blue maternity shirt. Could it be that her step-sister was pregnant? It was rather hard to believe, but certainly possible.

Mornings were early and rushed especially with Fiona and Susan having to fly out the door every other morning. And with Fiona being the Leader of the Free World, it was certainly a situation where everyone tried not to get in each other's way.

Clean up around the house had to be maintained, and the Butsudan had to be kept up - it would be highly disrespectful to not keep the Butsudan in a state of perpetual cleanliness.

Luckily that day, only one person had to fly out of the house...to get to work and that was Susan. So Fiona went downstairs and did some scientific research - science was a hobby for Fiona considering that her logic level was at 10 and she could understand concepts that made other people's heads spin. That's why Susan and Fiona got along so well. Haruo on the other hand spent some time drumming "taiko style" giving the spirits of his ancestors a major league headache due to the fact that the drumset was right in front of the Butsudan doors. Sorry, exalted ancestors.

It was just Cait's luck that she was going to go change her hairstyle when she went into labour right outside the doors of the stylist's business. She ended up having to drive herself to the hospital because well, it appeared that Masatoshi was at work.

Well, she had her kids at the hospital and ended up with a bouncing baby boy and a girl (twins). The boy was named Jerad and the girl was named Simone. Whatever...the computer chose it and I'm sticking with it. Considering how financially tight they were after that...they moved back in. It just coincided with a three day leave weekend for the kids...who came back with Sandi who would have her birthday and become a young adult.

Aidan decided to become the dapper dude and grow a mustache. Dude, it looks like an anemic caterpillar.

Brianna was daddy's little girl and she showed Dad how much she missed him by giving him a hug.

But they knew that they were bound back for CFB Starch after celebrating Sandi's birthday.

Sandi's birthday party was big with all the family members there (minus the one's who had passed on to the great World in the Sky). It was bittersweet knowing that her step-father and her mother were not there to celebrate it with her, but she knew that she had a family as long as she wanted it.

River was happy to see her step-sister move in again - they needed to save their money because Cait and Masatoshi wouldn't be able to buy a bigger house (three bedroom without their family's help.

When they aged up to toddler, Cait and River took turns in teaching Cait's kids how to talk.

...and Cait and Masatoshi were gratified that their close family ties were such that they could ask for help.

Satoshi Delivers a Warning

After blowing up both of Grady's Junkyards, Toshiyuki went over to see his brother. After all, the both of them were close and he had taken it hard that Satoshi had pretty much went after Satoshi's wife had gone. He missed him deeply.

...and who's apparition should appear, but Satoshi himself. Evidently, he was having second thoughts about being dead.

Well, that's hasty decisions for you. "Live a LOOOONG LIFE!!! There is NOTHING DOWN THERE FOR YOUUUU!!!" he wailed...ominously to Toshiyuki, "Cherish Life...Don't make my same mistake..." Satoshi warned, in between eery sobs.

Needless to say...that un-nerved Toshiyuki immensely. "HEED MY WARNING!!!!" said Satoshi. "LIVE A FULL LIFE...before YOU PASS or there will be nothing but the VOID!!!" OK...thanks...for that warning, Satoshi... Toshiyuki nodded...shivering...and flew out of there quickly.

"Toshi? Where'd you go?"

Meanwhile at home, Haruo serenaded his wife with some piano.

...and then went down to cook a delicious meal.

...while the others shared in the repast.

...and Yasunobu worked on his guitar skills.

...and just for kicks, Haruo, River and Yasunobu went out and played an impromptu gig over at the park in front of the Bistro.

Elsewhere in Riverview...two other Sims were complaining about paying their child-support. Well...the Watcher gave them something to really complain about...

Well, the next morning, Caeden, Toshiyuki and Susan were up early and down in the science room working on their individual experiments.

...and River and Haruo were still happily asleep.

...happily, in each other's arms...

The Average Day

Morning saw Toshiyuki working on some inventions - after all he was aiming to create a time-machine before his time was up on this world. There were really only two major inventions that were important enough to create in inventing. Of the big inventions, he's already created the Floor Hygienator, the Harvester and the Miner. Technically, he was going to leave out the sim-bot because well, who needed another "being" in the house, so he only really had one that he had to finish off, the time-machine.

If one looked at it honestly, Haruo was pretty much a domestic sim, who cooked and fixed up broken things in the house when he wasn't painting and making money to keep the roof over the family's head. And Haruo didn't mind that at all. It meant that they had a normal existence and one that would allow them to remain secure, safe and well-fed.

The rest of the sims did their own thing, and River went out and earned the bulk of the money with selling off her paintings one by one. She rarely had to do much in terms of adding new paintings to her inventory, because every painting sold for northwards of §35,000 when it was a commissioned sale.

Of course, it didn't help that every night, a paparazzi would come on their lot and end up with their rear-end on fire. It wasn't like the Chikamoris needed yet another ambulatory torch. Perhaps some "Private Property - Keep Out" signs would work better?

Toshiyuki did yet more inventing in the morning, after researching some more ideas about time, primarily Novikov's Self-Consistency Theory and Quantum Mechanics. You know, stuff that would make one's brains hurt. He was certainly doing his best to try to create a time-machine. Of course one also had to give their brain a bit of a rest so that it could figure out the new information that one had put into it.

Haruo went ahead and did some fishing, presumeably because he wanted to make some grilled salmon that night.

Toshiyuki enjoyed the repast...very much as did Yasunobu and Fiona.

Toshiyuki needed to create that new time-machine decided to go and blow up Grady's yet again. Grady must be getting really tired of that.

OK...both Grady's dumps...

Well, I'm sure he got enough scrap to invent something.