Week 2, Part 1: Davidson (Legacy)

[lakewood_bacc]

Hello, and welcome back to Lakewood: Just a BaCC! This is week two, and we'll start the week off with our founding family, the Davidsons. I'm sure you'll remember Lizzie, our foundress. Hi Lizzie, how's it going?
Lizzie: "I'm pregnant. I mean, more pregnant than I was last week."

Well that's nice. You weren't supposed to enter the third trimester quite yet, though.

Lizzie: "Oh? Is that... bad?"

No, it's ok, actually. Apparently visiting community lots during pregnancy can do that, you're suddenly in the last trimester when the lot is re-entered. I suppose that explains all those times when it seems that someone didn't get a second bump at all. Let's go get some breakfast for you, shall we?



Lizzie's husband, Ajay, has nicely made some pancakes for her. Hi Ajay. Are you ready to head out? We've got plans for today.

Ajay: "Hi. Sure, let me just finish the pancakes and get some clothes on."



First things first, Ajay heads for the Lakewood Walmart, as he's got some business there. Lizzie stays behind with her big belly. Ajay's first order of business is to buy a cell phone.


His second order of business is to get some new clothes and a hair style. Maybe the realistic thing would have been to wait until someone opens a clothing store and someone a salon, but screw realistic, I want makeovers for my playables now, and I say a non-playable clothing store and a mirror are close enough!
Anyway, what do you think Ajay?
Ajay: "I love it! This suits the aspiring Rock God in me so much better than my old look. Can I buy some jewellery yet?"
Oh alright. Let's get you a single earring yet, to complete the look.




Oh, I do hope that your new employer approves of that look, Ajay.

Ajay: "We're not going to get me a job in Music?"

You know we can't yet. We have to get a music venue lot in Lakewood first, and for that, we need some more space. Thanks to your wife and her level 10 business, there's an opening available in Business, which in turn will help us to gain the needed space. Go ahead and take up a Business opening!

Ajay: "Yes, ma'am."


Now, Ajay had other business to attend to, and just as he was leaving the lot, Coral Oldie and Oberon Summerdream decided they wanted a bit of romance in their lives.


Ajay's other business? The family business, naturally. It's already level 10, but Lizzie left kind of in a hurry, and the least that needed to be done was to set the price to a more reasonable level so that other sims can visit it without going bankrupt. So while we were at it, we decided that a little bit of income and sales experience for Ajay wouldn't hurt.

(I was also hoping to hunt the hack issue I've been trying to find, but realized that since Ajay doesn't have sales skills, he can't dazzle, and so far I've only been able to reproduce it by dazzling. Bugger.)



Coral and Oberon seem to have a point to make. Maybe five sim minutes in, they showed up on this lot and got all romantic again. Actually, I'm pretty sure one of them ran to the other.



Ajay also upgraded the Recreation Center a little bit: we got a Don't Wake the Llama, which was an immediate hit.


See? Even Loki, who's not been a fan of this establishment before, was totally into it.


After tending to the business, Ajay returned home only to go straight to work. Meanwhile, Lizzie tried her best to work on her Nature enthusiasm, despite it being winter. Bug hunting was still possible, as was reading the garden section of the newspaper.




I may have pressed poor Lizzie too hard. She spent the evening falling asleep in various places.


Ajay, in turn, spent his evening skilling. He didn't gain a promotion the first day, but that was actually because I didn't manage to fulfill enough wants to make him platinum for the workday.


Nothing that exciting happened during Lizzie's pregnancy, really. Ajay kept going to work and hoping for promotions. The carpool driver was apparently an alien.


And Lizzie kept working on her painting and her Nature enthusiasm, whenever she wasn't eating or sleeping.


So after a couple of not so eventful days, it's time for something more interesting: the birth of Lizzie and Ajay's first child!

Lizzie: "Yeah, you're excited, I get it. Get Ajay here, will you?"

Of course. I'll tell him to stop fixing the sink and get his butt in here. Don't expect him to be useful, though.


Ajay got there, of course. And was less than useful, of course.

Ajay: "The baby! It's coming!"


And indeed it was. Despite being Fortune sims, both Lizzie and Ajay had been looking forward to having a baby since the beginning of the week. (I may have helped a bit by locking the wants about the second I saw them.)


Meet Aaron Davidson, Lizzie and Ajay's son! Ajay's genetics dominate, of course. We'll see how he turns out later.


Ajay: "Alright, buddy. Soon it's bedtime for us, too, but for the moment, I think we'll have to manage just the two of us. Mommy's really tired. We can do that, right?"

Aaron: *giggle*


In the morning, it was Lizzie's turn to get to know her son a little better, while Ajay prepared for work. And little Aaron got to make use of our fancy new baby clothing. Works like a charm, though I'll admit I have a hard time remembering the whole thing, as I'm so used to babies wearing diapers. But the little clothes are so very cute!


Lizzie & Ajay: "Woot! A car, awesome! Thanks!"

Well, you both wanted it and we could afford it. So I thought it could come useful. Plus, it'd probably come clogging your want panels over and over again if we didn't get it. So two birds, one stone.


I may also have had a bit of an ulterior motive in trying to raise Ajay's aspiration. In any case, he also got a good chance card and earned his first promotion. Congrats, Ajay!

Ajay: "It's a little bit slow but... Thanks."

Don't worry, you'll get there, I'm sure.


Since Ajay was promoted with a chance card, he had the afternoon off. Guess what he and Lizzie got up to with their extra time?


Well, Ajay did also get to work with Lizzie's portrait, now that we caught her in her regular clothes.


And Lizzie worked on that Nature Enthusiasm a little bit, although that didn't go too great.


But mostly they had other things in mind.

Lizzie: "Guess what, sweetie?"

Ajay: "What?"

Lizzie: "I think I just heard a lullaby."

Good! This is a matriarchy, so of course the firstborn was a boy. So something needed to be done.


Ajay: "Hmm, I do think that must have been a lullaby."

Lizzie: "*gobble gobble munch munch* What?"

Ajay: "Nothing, nothing."


The next morning, Aaron woke up with a dirty nappy.

Ajay: "Morning, honey. No worries, I've got him already. You can go back to sleep."

Lizzie: "Nah, I'm already awake. But good that you've got him..."


Lizzie: "... 'cause I've got other things to worry about!"


Time for Ajay to head to work again. Hey, what are those?

Ajay: "What are what?"


Those things on your tie. Llamas?

Ajay: "Maybe? I've no idea, and I'm not too fond of this suit."

Yeah, I get that. But you'll get rid of it soon enough. ... I quite just make out what those are, but maybe they are little llama heads or something.


While Ajay was at work, Lizzie got to spend time with little Aaron...



... rush to the bathroom every couple of hours (this has been one of the most morning sick pregnancies I've seen in the game)...


... and practice her painting. I'd be more interested in doing Nature activities, but Lizzie insists on the Creativity points in her Wants panel.


Hi Ajay. Back at home?

Ajay: "Yeah."

No promotion?

Ajay: "No, sorry. You kinda need to be platinum to get promoted in one day. Yes, who's Daddy's little boy, who is?"

Yeah, sorry about that, I tried. Well, tomorrow is another day. Now let's just enjoy Aaron's birthday tonight.

Ajay: "Yeah, let's."



So indeed it's little Aaron's birthday. Because life has been pretty exhausting for his parents lately and there's no obligation for a party, it's just a quiet occasion with the family. Ajay got to do the honors.


Let's see how he turns out, shall we?


Hello there, Aaron. Happy birthday! You turned out pretty cute, you know.

Ajay: "Hey there buddy. What's up with the tux?"

Well maybe Aaron wanted to be a bit festive for the occasion. But I agree, it's a bit much.


Lizzie stayed at home with Aaron, and Ajay went to the Walmart once again, to find some clothes for his son.


The whole thing must have taken Ajay something like 15 sim minutes, but that was apparently enough for Brandi Broke and Patrizio Monty to get all romantic with each other.


Back at home we found out what we of course already knew: Lizzie was pregnant with a second child.


Here's Aaron with something a little more suitable to wear, and with a new haircut, too. So cute!
Aaron is a 6/7/9/3/1 Gemini.


The next day, it was time to start on Aaron's toddler training, and since Ajay had to go to work, the task mostly fell on Lizzie.

I have to say, it's been a looooong time since I've last tried to do toddler training without smart milk. It's an incredible amount of work! It's only generation two, and it almost made me regret choosing the no aspiration rewards handicap already.




Almost. But it was kind of a challenge, too. Besides, Aaron did eventually learn to speak.

And he's so cute, too!


In the end of the workday, Ajay returned with a promotion. Hooray for Ajay!

Ajay: "Finally level three at least! I hope this means I can climb the rest of the ladder, too."

You can, I'm sure of it.


In the evening, as winter was over, or just about over, Lizzie got to start on the garden some by planting some tomatoes. I'm still determined about that Nature enthusiasm.


Meanwhile, Ajay got to take part in the toddler training, by teaching little Aaron to walk, or getting started on that, anyway.

Oh, and if you're wondering about Aaron's outfit, no, I didn't change it. That's actually his pajamas. You see, I forgot to have Ajay purchase pajamas too, so I just picked the best option from what was already in the wardrobe, and it was this. Pajamas that look like everyday outfits have the downside that I tend to forget that the kid is actually wearing pajamas.


And of course, in the evening it was again time for Lizzie to get bigger again.


The next day, Lizzie took care of Aaron, and did some gardening. The yard needed a bit of work after the winter.


And then she did some more gardening, because the actual garden needed some work too. And she gained her Bronze Gardening badge at it, too.


Consort Capp: "Mehehehe, I'm sneaky and I'm stealing this old newspaper from here where it's obviously been forgotten and not lined up to go to the compost at all, and no one will notice me!"


Right, Consort. Sure you are.


Instead of a promotion, poor Ajay came home with the flu.

Ajay: "*cough cough* I didn't realize working life was so tough."

It is pretty tough sometimes, especially when you get the flu.


Unlike in real life, the flu didn't prevent Ajay from sleeping, and a bubble bath and a nap later, he was healthy again. (And me, who just spent days on end being all stuffy and miserable, I'm not jealous at allll.)


Anyway, Ajay getting better was right on time. Because it was time for Lizzie to find the bathroom and give birth.


Ajay was right there, and he was just as useful as last time.

Ajay: "Uh oh... Umm..."


Regardless, before too long it was all over, and Lizzie and Ajay had a second child. A daughter, at that.
Meet Lauren Davidson, our generation 2 heiress!


Lauren of course got a warm welcome from the family, before it was bedtime for everyone.


The next morning, it was time for Lizzie to concentrate on little Aaron, finishing his potty training to be exact. Well done Lizzie!

Lizzie: "Thanks! That should make life a little easier."

Absolutely. Oh, by the way, do you have a moment?

Lizzie: "Sure, what is it?"

I... I may have miscalculated, or well, misremembered really, when it comes to your taxes last week.
Lizzie: "Meaning?"

Meaning that you paid too much taxes last week. You see, I remembered that a level 10 business would be worth 100,000 simoleans, but after I checked this week, I learned that it was only 50,000. So in essence, you paid your business taxes twice last week. I'll deduct the sum from your taxes this week, if that's ok with you. I mean, I'm all for collecting taxes quicker, but I do want to be fair. How's that sound?

Lizzie: "Oh, sure. Good for us I guess."




We were lucky, and Ajay also had work in the weekend. Before he left, he got to help Lizzie in the garden a little bit.

Ajay: "If you had work in the weekend, would you call that lucky?"

Well, no, not exactly. On the other hand, I don't get promotions every other day, either.

Ajay: "Fair enough."

Good luck!



While Ajay was at work and Lizzie worked in the garden, Aaron got to amuse himself with his bunny.


Another good chance card later, Ajay returns home with a promotion. He beat door to door salesmen with telemarketing. Congrats, Ajay!

Ajay: "I feel a little dirty, but well, it got me to the next level. So I suppose no complaints."

Yep. You made it to level 4 this week, great!


After work, it was time to finally get Aaron walking. Lizzie had been doing the majority of the toddler training since she was home during the days, so we were determined to have Ajay teach his son at least one skill. And he did!


I did feel a little bad for little Lauren, I felt that we were kind of neglecting her. Not that babies are (thankfully) that needy, but still. Only after I finished the rotation I realized that I'd forgotten to give Lauren baby clothes. Whoops. Aaron's training has just been So. Much. Work. But rest assured, Lauren did get some cuddles, too.


In the evening, with Lauren sleeping in her crib and Aaron taking care of himself for a bit, both Lizzie and Ajay worked on some painting. Lizzie because she constantly wants to learn about painting, and Ajay because of Lizzie's portrait. The first one got corrupted somehow so that he couldn't continue working on it, only scrap it, so he had to start over. But there will be portraits, some day.


Monday was a working day, so Ajay headed to bed, but Lizzie still had one thing to do before the week was over. By my normal play style, Aaron would already have grown up tonight, but he still had his nursery rhyme to learn, and we couldn't have that. And before the night was over, Aaron was fully trained. Good work Lizzie!
Lizzie: "*yawn* Thanks."



So with this picture of Aaron singing the nursery rhyme in his jammies while his exhausted parents sleep, we wrap the first part of the second week up.

Here are the stats for the interested:

Playable sims: 8 + 2 (Aaron, Lauren) = 10
SM: 8
Population: 80

Households: 4

CAS sims: 1 placed / 9 earned

Community lots: 4 businesses + 1 free = 5

Businesses:

Lakewood Recreation Center (Lizzie Davidson, level 10)
Yummy! (Regan Capp, level 4)
Curious Gadgets (Pascal Curious, level 4)
Variety Buffet (Daniel Fortunato, level 6)

Other community lots:

Lakewood Walmart (general store)

Careers:

Business: 1 opening / 1 taken (Ajay Davidson, level 4)
Medical: Unlocked!
Architecture: 1 opening / 0 taken
Culinary: 1 opening / 0 taken


Universities: 1 (privately funded, founded by Lizzie Davidson)
Business districts: 0
Downtown: no

Fires: 0
Burglaries: 0
Electrocutions: 0

Taxes collected from this household: 62,000*0.05 + 50,000*0.05 (for level 10 business) – 50,000*0.05 (for erroneously paying too much taxes last week) = 3,100 simoleans*
Taxes collected total: 21,700 + 3,100 = 24,800 simoleans at 5% rate

* I round both the net worths and the results so as to make calculations and keeping track of payments easier.

Legacy points scored this week:

0.5 points for reaching generation 2
1 point for 4 more friends (former best total was 21, new best total 25)

Total so far: 8.25 points.

Again, thanks for reading and hopefully you'll join us for the second part of week 2 as well. Until then, happy simming!