I got all excited then because I thought there was an update for me before I got to bed. :( Oh well. At least I'm reminded of the urn thingymabob!
Meanwhile, back with Ania and Edith ... Wednesday morning we moved Ania and Edith to La Fiesta. Kate had been the one to visit campuses with the girls so Id never seen any of this before. It was open desert for miles. Reminded me a little too much of my trek across the desert with Harcourt and I didnt much like it but I kept my mouth shut. Id never been to college myself, never missed it, either, but I knew that the education theyd get here would give them more options in life. Wed talked about renting them a house but the girls decided that spending their freshman year in the dorm would give them time to get used to the place. For one thing they wouldnt have to cook their own meals. That, I thought, would be a real good idea since they usually burned whatever they attempted. I kept my mouth shut about that, too. Theyd gotten rooms side by side on the first floor of a dorm that housed eight students. It looked liked mostly girls moving in although I saw at least one guy hauling a duffel bag up the stairs. He had a skinny face, a big nose and was attempting to grow hair on his chin. His shirt hung out under his sweater. He caught me looking at him and winced. No worries about him, I thought. We kissed and hugged the girls goodbye and drove home. We were quiet the whole way as the change in our lives got more real with each mile. Kate sniffed once or twice and dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. As we pulled into the driveway she said, Sometimes I think we should have another baby. I almost ran the truck though the shop windows. I stood on the brakes just in time. Kate started to giggle. Im not serious, Lover, she said. Im just missing my babies. She wiped at her eyes again, took a deep breath and got out of the truck. My own eyes were bothering me a little but I ignored it. Kate went into the house. I went into the store to ask Joe how the day went.
Hi, Dad. Whats Up? Hello, Edith. Im just calling to see how you are. Any problems with the homework? Getting to class on time? Yikes, Dad! Its only been two days! Dont worry. Were fine. Homeworks fine. Classes are fine. Gotta run Wait, wait, wait. I want to talk to Ania. Ummm. Shes in class. You were never good at that, Edith? Good at what? Lying. Whats Ania doing? Just her homework. Really. Shes safe in her room. So go get her for me. Tell her I wont take long. Im sorry, Dad. Theres no point in even asking her. She wont come to the phone because shes mad at you. Me? What for? For pretending to punch Joe. I thought it was funny but Ania has no sense of humor. Shes just real mad about it. Hello? Dad? Are you still there? Im here. Did Joe tell you this? Oh, brother, youre kidding, arent you? I SAW him. Up close. Thats the dumbest looking paint job Ive ever seen. Its even gotten smeared. I guess because he actually takes a shower once in a while. I cant imagine how Ania could have been fooled by it, but shes all heart and no head, if you understand what Im saying. When did you see Joe up close, as you put it? Yesterday. He came out to say hi and see the dorm. Dont freak, Dad. I never left them alone and he didnt touch her. Not one single finger. I cant imagine what you said to that poor wretch but he sure took it serious. In fact, I thought he was going to have a heart attack on the spot when she kissed him. Too bad, since shes just as mad at him as she is at you. Kissed him? She kissed him? She knows we faked a fight and she kissed him? Easy, Dad. Only because she didnt know about the fake yet. Not until after he left and that witch Klara told her. And I thought Blossom was my friend. She said she was but Im not talking to her ever again because its obvious shes better friends with Klara since she told Klara everything I said about Joe even though I made her swear shed never repeat it especially to Ania and she did swear like I asked her and then told Klara anyway Edith, I interrupted her. Its OK. Its not your fault. Well see you Sunday. Bye, Honey. I hung up the phone very slowly and then put my fist through the kitchen wall. I was feeling a little stressed. Not sleeping well, you know.
Kate ran into the kitchen, looked at the hole in the wall and the dusty blood on my hand and started to panic. “What’s wrong? One of them is hurt? Both of them? An accident?” ‘No one’s hurt. No accidents. They’re fine. I’m just a little upset because Joe went out there to visit them yesterday and Ania found out that we’d faked the bruises. Now she won’t talk to me.” Kate smiled. It was a big grin, ear to ear. “He went out there? Joe did?” “That’s what I said.” “He loves her.” “That’s NOT what I said.” Kate threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. “But he loves her. I could see it in his face sometimes, when he talked to her. Come over to the sink and wash your hand. What a mess. What happened to those anger management lessons you took? All forgotten?” “I didn’t stay for chapter ten. It must have been the one that covered this situation. Kate, this is more complicated than you think. Joe Smith is not his real name.” “I already knew that. We talked about it. But he‘s a good man. Can‘t you tell? You‘ve worked with him. I‘ve seen him with the customers and with you. Why do you worry so much?” “He’s six years older than Ania.” Kate seemed a little surprised, either at his age or that I knew it. “So, it happens a lot. You’re older than I am. He’s smart, too. You’ve told me yourself that he knows more about robots than you do. You depend on him. Think about it. He can run your store. If he becomes a member of the family…” “Shhh, Sweetheart. Listen to me,” I took her hands. “His real name is Harcourt. He’s Iven’s son, and he might want to go home someday.” “Oh, no. Oh, my poor little Ania.” Kate thought about it for maybe three seconds then stuck out her jaw, “Well, he can’t go. You’ll just have to stop him.”
So sweet. Errol as well as his daughters. And oh, no problem keeping Joe here, Kate. Want him to lasso the moon while he's at it? Actually, it seems to me Joe might want to stick around. He said so, himself.
Yeah, they have two sparks going, Joe and Ania. I wasn't sure what would happen. I would have preferred three but two is not bad. So now that the girls are safely away at college I can concentrate on the urn business. :bandit: This part gets tricky.
Three's pretty easy to get if you change their turn-ons to match each other. Or do they already? Milo and Cooper had two until he started working out (she likes fit men). Now they have three. David and Olivia had three right off the bat ... Though they'd have rather died than admit it!
I haven't looked at either one of them for turn ons. Don't even remember what their zodiac signs are . Or Joe's lifetime want. I know that Ania wants to be a mad scientist which is also her mother's lifetime desire. Edith wants to be a business tycoon so she's probably going to take over her father's business some day. Errol's lifetime want is to be a criminal mastermind which is tough cookies for him because I won't allow it. I wonder if Merola's Painting has an option for changing that? Clever object, that multipainting. David and Olivia. I really like them. I love reading what goes on between your characters. Poor Jack. Maybe he needs a good, solid, down to earth girl like Edith Waring. I might leave Joe and Ania with two sparks. They've been too sweet together. It's sickening. A little friction might be in order. :raincloud:
Pescado's college timer thingy lets you change your LTW. Here's my absolute favorite messed-up original LTW (I kept it Antonio Nova wants to marry off 6 children. (Yes I have the LTW variety hack.) Hee hee ... so many things wrong with that LTW. But as I've stated ad nauseum, permanent platinum sims bore me silly anyway. Of course, now that Pescado's site seems to be down I'm not sure you can get the college timer thingy anymore. :( Unless you already have it. It works in houses where no one's in college, too, but all they can change is their LTW. I'm glad you like my sims. Yes, Jack does seem to suffer a lot, doesn't he ...
Ooooh Wow, I just read the whole story so far, and I am hooked! It's so good! I'll have to read the previous story, I wish I had read it first Oh well
Thank you Alison. With painters in my house now my computer is disconnected from the internet so I'm checking in here while at work. However, tomorrow I'm not at work, meaning no internet all day. I tried burning a DVD with pictures for Ironsides but my old computer here at work won't read the disc. And my computer at home does not have a 3 1/2" floppy drive. Sheesh. I have one brief chapter to add, though. It isn't the trip to the cemetery yet. When Joe showed up for work Saturday morning I thought at first that he was an early customer. He'd gotten a hair cut. And he'd finally gotten rid of the boot black around his eye. I met him at the door to the store, blocking it, and I didn't waste time or words. "You went out to La Fiesta." He stood up straighter and raised his chin as if inviting me to land one on it. "That's right, Errol. I went out to La Fiesta." "Why?" "To visit with friends of mine." "Do you love her?" Behind the heavy glasses his eyes got wider. "What?" "Kate thinks so. I want to hear it from you. Do you love Ania?" He cleared his throat. "I don't know. I've never felt this way before." "Figure it out. You see, Joe, I'm not convinced you aren't going to pack up and go home one of these days. You were a kid who ran away from a load of responsibilities. I can sympathize. I did it, too. But you're not a kid any more and you've taken on all kinds of responsibilities around the store." "I choose these. I can walk away from them any time. And they really don't compare..." "And what kind of leader will your brother make? A good one? Better than you? Will your people be happy?" "That enough!" His face was red. Whoa, I'd found it, a weak spot in the defenses he'd pile up around himself. "When you go back, and I think you will, what happens to Ania?" "I'm not going back. Ever. Are you opening the store today? Those might be customers coming down the sidewalk." I had to smile. My audience with the prince who worked for me was over. "Sure, Joe. Let's open it up."
Oooh! You posted. Me happy. I hope Joe stays, but hey, maybe Ania'd like to be a princess? Of course, her dad would miss her ...
What girl wouldn't want to marry a prince? You get to live in a castle and have servants and lovely gowns and such! Oh wait - There's all of those formal receptions and civic duties to perform...and then there are the politics...and don't even get me started on the papparazzi! (No more nipping around to the Malt Shop for a quick Burger and Fries!) At any rate, can't wait to see how it all works out! PS - Is it just me, or does Ania look an awful lot like her grandmother?
Yes, she does, though she really is Errol and Kate's daughter, born in game. I guess it's because Kate is a townie and I created Errol 'from scratch' so all the genetics favor him (except for the red hair.) Both Edith and Ania look like Errol and his mother (I created his mother using him as the model.) I managed to find a cable connection on the first floor that actually worked, away from the painters, and hooked up (temporarily) my modem and wireless router. This computer I'm using at the moment is my old one and it has an 'antenna.' My Sims2 computer does not have an 'antenna' because it was hooked up directly to the router. All this complication is to say I came on the forum just now to check to see how the wireless business was working. Yaaa! It works, but lunch is boiling over and I have to run errands. More chapters, maybe pictures tonight! See y'all later.
The store had an average day, except for the woman who took notes and left saying she was going to give us a bad review. I tried to help her out, showing her our stock, but some people are never happy. I decided not to worry about it. I knew Kate was anxious to get to the cemetery. She still had it in her head that the urn held a treasure. I didn’t think it contained anything at all, even ashes. After all, Mom wasn’t dead. In fact, she was running around somewhere waiting tables and having the time of her life. But sure, I was curious. I’d never looked inside the urn. The thought of it made my flesh crawl. I had to wonder, though, why Granddad was so keen on me taking care of it, as he had insisted one last time, before he died, in his final letter to me in prison. When I was a kid he swore it was my dead mother so taking care of it made sense. When I had visited him as an adult in the guise of Emil, time traveling with Harcourt, I had learned that my mother did not die after all, that Granddad had sent her away, disowning her for robbing him. And yet that urn stood in its place of honor on the mantel until the day he died and the lawyers took over. I even recall seeing him take the thing into his hands and pat it gently, a smile on his face. So, OK, maybe I was wrong and there was something inside it after all. No harm in looking but I didn’t want Kate getting her hopes up. Old men set store by some strange things. We might find a bag of marbles. As Joe and I were locking up that evening, I asked if he was up for a trip to the cemetery. “What’s at the cemetery?” "We’re getting an urn I left there a few years ago.” “An urn? Who was it?” “No one. It’s just an urn my Granddad left me.” “You bought space for an empty urn?” “I didn’t want it sitting around the house and he made me promise to take care of it. What would you do?” “I’d have buried him in it.” “Good idea, but I was in jail when he was buried. So do you want to go or not?” “I’ll go. There’s nothing on TV tonight anyway.
We took Ironsides, too, because I didnt want him roaming around scaring Mom while we were out. Me, Kate and Joe squeezed into the truck cab and Ironsides bounced around on the truck bed in back. The robot had protested this arrangement but I managed to convince him that he was riding shotgun even though he had no gun. Youve got body armor and fists of iron. I told him. So he stopped arguing and climbed in, buzzing quietly to himself and examining his knuckles. We drove over to Gothier Green Lawns just as the sun set. Kate, former policewoman that she is, grilled Joe the entire way. He was trapped between us and soon regretting that hed agreed to go along. But not at first, because Kates got an easy manner about her. How many brothers and sisters, Joe? she said. One brother and two sisters. Sounds like a nice family. Any of them married yet? I dont know. They were too young when I left. How long have you been gone? About six years. How old are you? He hesitated only a second or two. 24. All I could think was how fast time had gone by. Had he really been working for me for four years? I guess so. There are definitely four years worth of raises in his paycheck. But Kate was pursuing it out loud. Six years is a long time. I dont have any brothers or sisters but Im sure Id miss them if I was away that long. Have you talked to them, or been back to visit them? No. Its too far away. But theres the telephone. You might have called. Your mother would have liked that. She must worry what happened to you, dont you think? Its an entirely different system. Incompatible. Im not able to reach them by telephone. Seemed to me that Joe was getting a little nervous. Kate sensed it too and changed the subject. Errol tells me you know robots up, down and sideways. Sounds like you got a really good education. What schools did you go to? I didnt. Tsk, tsk, I thought. You could have lied, Joe, and given her the name of some obscure town. But then again, I shouldnt underestimate Kate. Oh? She said casually. Tutors, maybe? Out of the corner of my eye I saw him nod. Tutors that give you the equivalent of a highly technical college education by the time youre 18 years old. She wasnt asking, just summarizing. Joe sat still and said nothing, just stared out the windshield. Wow, Kate said softly. Not many families could do that for their children. Would you do less for your own?
Joe had plenty to think about but didnt need to answer any more questions because wed arrived at Gothier Green Lawns. The sun was already gone and it was gloomy here as the four of us climbed out of the truck and walked through the gates. I have never much cared for this place. For one thing, there are an unusual number of visitors after dark. I often wonder what theyre up to here but never stayed long enough to find out. And it isnt a particularly attractive cemetery with its mismatched buildings and overall tackiness. You think I wouldnt know the difference? Listen close. As a thief once upon a time I robbed some high class places just oozing high class taste. I know high class when I see it and it isnt here. I took my group to the mausoleum at the back corner. Ironsides rotated his camera eye round and round, up and down. I dont know this place, Emil. And I am not seeing any guards. There should be guards. We should have brought a sentry robot with us to look for the guards and map the layout. Is it jewels we are looking for here, Emil? These vaults have strong doors but the locks look easy to pick. Too many people here now. I dont see cameras, though. They must be hidden in the trees. I turned to the robot and knocked a couple of times on its metal chest. Were just looking the place over, Ironsides. And you know what they say--walls have ears, so shut up. I pointed to the heavy mausoleum door. It wasnt locked. With Kate leading the way we went inside. It was real dark in there but she found a light in the corner and turned it on, cursing loudly at the cobwebs with every step she took. Then with hands on hips she surveyed the small stone room. So which one is it? she asked me. There were three urns and something else piled on one of the other shelves in the corner. Now you may think these things look alike, that you cant really tell the difference between them. That may be true for the casual observer, but Id looked at that old urn of my Granddads for years. I knew every scratch and splotch on each of its rough curves. Always complications. Im tired of complications. I looked at Kate. Its none of these. Its gone.
Thats impossible! she said. No, its not. These doors arent ever locked. The latches are rusted. You can tell from that junk in the corner that at least one urn here gets a lot of visitors. So someone took mine, probably as a gag. A GAG! she sputtered. A GAG! she repeated. Thats horrible. Im calling the police! THE POLICE! Ironsides screeched and went berserk, running outside and down the sidewalk through the cemetery. RUN! RUN! THE POLICE! Joe took off after him. I looked hard at Kate who shrugged. We ran after Ironsides and Joe and found them wrestling in the grass near the gate. He managed to get Ironsides powered down just as we got there. The robot went limp and quiet. Meanwhile, a number of people had come out of the mausoleums and were hurrying out of the cemetery. I recognize the faces of guilt when I see them and I was seeing plenty. One day Im going to have to come back here to find out whats going on. Might be interesting. We tossed Ironsides in the back of the truck. I told Kate to stay with the robot while Joe and I went looking for the caretaker to report the missing urn. The caretaker shook his head in dismay, This has never happened to us before. Whats the name? Waring? Oh, yes, the dearly departed under the daisy picture. Nice picture. I will make a report to the police but there are so many visitors here I want my money back. And Ill want my picture, too. People bury their dead here trusting theyll stay put and I come here and find rusted locks and crowds milling around doing who knows what. My wife plans to call the police herself about this. I assure you that wont be necessary, Mr. Waring. Ill refund your money. The check will be in the mail tomorrow morning. Please take the picture with you now. And I will report the matter to the police myself. They can be difficult and rough with all their questions. Im sure you and your wife would rather not My wife is retired from the police force, mister. Youll find that they all know her as a friend and will be eager to help. He blinked unhappily at me. Joe leaned forward and asked him, Who does the urn in the corner belong to, the one with all the visitors? Our neighbors, the caretaker said and pointed at the big dark house next to the cemetery. Joe and I returned to the truck. Driving home we passed that old house. There was a For Sale sign out front and it looked vacant. I didnt tell any of them that I planned to come back. Alone. Maybe there was nothing in that urn but it was mine and I wanted it back.
Ooooh, Errol's going to get himself in trouble! This is getting so exciting. I love Joe's haircut. Where'd you get it?
