Chapter 2

Ah, the Rolands. What a lovely family. The whole neighborhood secretly wishes they'd move out of town. Too bad they'll be staying put for the next ten generations.

At the end of the last chapter I put up an heir poll. Did you remember to vote in it? It looks like most people did. For those who have checked the poll lately, you probably already know Lyla has the most votes and thus is this generations heiress! She won with 70% of the vote, which tells me most of you really like her :) I almost wish I would have waited to put the poll up until Trevor became a young adult because he's got an interesting 5th trait.
For once, it seemed like there would be a nice and quiet afternoon in the Roland household. Constance was buried deep in a new book, Trevor was knee deep in homework and neither Eddie or Lyla were home.
A couple hours even passed before the silence was broken when Eddie arrived home.
Constance: "Eddie, I have great news!"
Eddie: "What?"
Constance: "Lyla will stay in our home and continue the family line once we're gone."
Eddie: "Oh. What is so exciting about that?"
Constance: "Grandbabies!?!"
Eddie: "Augh...woman, I can't stand children. Lets not talk about more babies for me to deal with."
Constance: "Oh, fine. Whatever!"
Eddie: "What is Trevor going to do?"
Constance: "It's up to him, I guess. He can move out and start a family of his own or he can stay here with Lyla."
Eddie: "If he's smart he'll get his own place and stay away from all the crazies in this town!"
Constance: "Do you realize this is the first time we're having a conversation that doesn't involve yelling in like years?"
Eddie: "Yes, and it's very nice. I really shouldn't be so hard on you. It's not like I don't care about you, even if you do drive me mad most of the time."
Constance: "Gee, thanks. I guess I deserved that though. I did trick you into having two kids."
Eddie: "Uh-huh. So, what else can we talk about calmly?"
Constance: "I've started writing a new book."
Eddie: "Not that again! Woman, I have no interest in your books."
Constance: "Ugh! Why do I bother? You suck, always have and always will."
Eddie: "I'm sorry. That was totally uncalled for. You were just trying to make conversation. I shouldn't be so harsh."
Constance: "Forget it. I never should have let my guard down around you anyways. You'll just end up hurting me all over again."
With that Constance walked away. To soothe her nerves she went to make sure the faucet in the bathroom wasn't leaking. She instantly felt better once she knew it was fine.
My, oh my. Who is Lyla talking to? He looks awfully cute.
Dexter: "I saw you last night on stage. You sounded great."
Lyla: "Really? You actually saw me. I was way in the back."
Dexter: "It's hard not to notice someone as beautiful as you."
Lyla: "Are you hitting on me?"
Dexter: "Is it working?"
Lyla: "Maybe."
Dexter: '"Then, yes."
They stood there talking for hours until Lyla needed to head off to work. She gave him her phone number and was about to run off when he suddenly pulled her in for a hug. Dexter quietly whispered that he'd call her first thing tomorrow morning. That night Lyla was in such a great mood she was promoted to lead guitarist!
Not again! These two don't ever stop arguing. They don't have a negative relationship but they don't have a positive one either. It's definitely middle of the road. Occasionally, one of them will have the wish to woohoo but I just laugh and ignore it. These two will never be that close again!
Whoa, Constance is talking about books again and it doesn't look like Eddie's flipping out yet. Perhaps, there is hope for these two afterall.
I would say guess what Lyla is painting but I doubt anyone would ever guess. This is actually a portrait of Eddie. It looks horrible, doesn't it? I was expecting the portrait to look perfect like it always did in TS2. I guess that is no longer the case, which is more realistic but still it looks terrible.
Unfortunately, Constance and Eddie won't have enough time to make amends. They could probably have an eternity together though, and still not be happy with each other. The whole family gathered around to mourn his death. They all loved him in their own, unique ways.
It seemed even in the afterlife, Eddie couldn't bare to be near his family for long. His spirit quickly snuck outside, away from the sobbing his family was doing. Grimmy followed him outside and took him away.

Ah, Eddie. He was such a great founder. *cough* He had commitment issues, disliked children, and was a mean spirited, inappropriate loser. He died in his 80's and never achieved his lifetime want nor did he accumulate over 100,000 lifetime happiness points. I actually blame his loser trait for those two failures. I doubt it's that normal for an ordinary sim to get arrest 5 times in the criminal career. Perhaps, I'm wrong though. Had he achieved his LTW he would have reached 100,000 lifetime happiness points. Oh well. Eddie brought lots of character to this legacy and that's what I was going for anyways.
As if by design, a few minutes after Eddie past away, a robber showed up in the middle of the day to take back some of the goods Eddie had "acquired" at work. Nobody at the house knew what to do. They all started freaking out. Thank goodness I installed a burglar alarm.
It wasn't long before a cop showed up to take down the thief. Constance and Trevor stood their in disbelief over what was happening. Eddie had just died and now this. What else could happen?
Lady Cop: '"Ma'am, I'm really sorry about your stolen items. I've been trying really hard to build up my muscles. I guess I'm not quite where I should be yet."

Sadly, the thief got away with the stolen goods. I think she only made off with one of the statues. The family had enough to replace it though.

"What's wrong, Constance?"
Constance: "Eddie died before I had the chance to throw coffee in his face and move out."
"What?"
Constance: "You heard me. I had finally had enough and was planning my escape. I was going to take Trevor with me too."
"Oh. Well, aren't you glad you can stay here and not have to worry about finding your own place now?"
Constance: "That's a good point, but I still would have loved to seen Eddie suffer."

I believe I took this close up of Constance to show her wrinkles. I really like how in TS3 the sims grow wrinkles as they age. It seems so life like. I know in TS2 you could have added wrinkles to your sims through the face paint option once they became elders but I never remembered to do that.
Dexter: "Thanks for meeting me! I've been looking forward to it. So, anything exciting been happening?"
Lyla: "That's an understatement if I ever heard it. The last few days have actually been a bit tough. My father past away and then a robber came to steal items he had earned at work."
Dexter: "I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. Are you okay? We don't have to hang out if you're not in the mood."
Lyla: "Nah, I'm fine. My dad and I had an interesting relationship. I know on some level he loved me but we were never very close."
Lyla: "Enough about my troubled past few days, how are you doing? I must admit I'm so happy to be here with you right now. I know you'll be able to cheer me up."
Dexter: "I haven't done much lately, but think about you and our first meeting."
Lyla: "Don't make me blush."
Dexter: "It's true. You have no idea how amazing you are."
Lyla: "Are you trying to butter me up?"
Dexter: "Only if it's working."
Lyla: "Hey, I know we barely know each other but I'm an old fashion girl and would like to make sure while we're dating I'm the only one you're seeing. Can you make me that promise?"
Dexter: "We're dating now? I thought we were just hanging out."
Lyla: "Oh, well..."
Dexter: "I'm teasing. Yes, of course, I will only date you."
And with that Lyla jumped into Dexter's arms. She had no idea she could be so vulnerable with a guy. Perhaps, it had something to do with her parents relationship and wanting so much more then they had.
Meanwhile, Trevor was starting to spend more time with his friend, Jackie.
What had once been a mere friendship was blossoming into much more.
It's not that Constance didn't like Jackie, but she also didn't know her too well. Trevor was Constance's baby and she wanted to protect him the best she could. After Constance caught Trevor and Jackie kissing, she had a little talk with Jackie to see if she was properly suited for her son.
I'm guessing she must have past, because I'm not sure I'd leave my sons teenage girlfriend take a nap on my bed unless I really liked her.
"You can't honestly be proud of that."
Lyla: "Who's there?"
"Your dad or mom ever mentioned me? I'm like this neighborhood's goddess and I'm here to help your family make it to ten generations."
Lyla: "Nope, they never told me about you. So, can I see you?"
"I'm invisible."
Lyla: "Ooooooookay, then."
"Ask your mom about me. I'm sure she'll have at least one or two good things to say about me."
Lyla: "So, can I summon you when I want something?"
"Um, yeah, but I can't promise I'll meet your request."
Lyla: "Never hurts to ask."
Dexter's and Lyla's relationship is growing quickly. They get along well and really like each other.
Lyla felt confident that Dexter was the one for her and decided not to waste any time. She had scoped out the other options in the neighborhood but didn't find anyone as intriguing as she found Dexter. Luckily, Lyla's leap of faith paid off and Dexter agreed to marry her.
They were both so excited!
In fact, they were so excited they didn't bother wasting anytime tying the knot.
I tried doing this at a park downtown but Dexter didn't show up. The guests were upset they didn't get to see a wedding so the party was a bust.
It looks like a private ceremony worked really well for these two. Maybe Dexter's kind of shy and didn't want any guests at their nuptials.
Everyone, lets welcome Dexter to the family. Immediately after getting married, Dexter jumped on this bike, road to an empty lot, and then went back to his new home. It was like he was getting all his belongings and moving them into his new home. Odd, huh?

Dexter has the following traits: natural cook, perfectionist, hot headed, schmoozer, angler. His lifetime want is to have 13 different species of perfect fish in fishbowls. My goal is to find spouses that have at least one negative trait. In Dexter's case that is being hot headed.

"Geez, Lyla, how many painting skills do you have? Constance's portait looks so fuzzy!"
Lyla: "Hey, don't be dissing my work! I don't have to talk to you, ya know?"
"Right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so rude. I just can't get over the quality of portraits now. I'm sure it has nothing to do with your skills."
Lyla: "Excuse me? What is that suppose to mean?"
"You know what, I'll just leave you alone for now."
Lyla: "Good, get away!"

"Not quite perfect, huh?"
Dexter: "Are you her? The goddess of this neighborhood?"
"I guess you could call me that."
Dexter: "Did you do something magical to prevent my needs from dropping?"
"No, it's kind of weird though. I've noticed you're needs are always pretty much full too."
Dexter: "I'm not really complaining but I feel like I'm breaking the rules or something."
"I kind of feel the same but it's nobody's fault so you may as well live it up."
I have seriously neglected Trevor in this chapter and for that I apologize. He's now an adult and for his fifth trait he was randomly given evil, hence the pajama pants. I was kind of bummed when he rolled that trait and I hadn't waited until afterwards to put the heir poll up. Oh, well. I really do like Lyla a lot. Trevor's lifetime want is the same as his father's was: Become the Emperor of Evil. Hopefully, he has better luck then his dad did.
Oh, Lyla's pregnant. That's why she's leaving work early. Well, they certainly didn't waste anytime.
I couldn't help but snap a picture of this. It's been at least a full day since Dexter and her got married (I know I didn't have them try for baby until after that were married) and she's still fascinated by were ring. Again, another real life characteristic that TS3 creators added to the game. I *heart* it!
Eddie's first visit in the after life and he's napping. He wandered the house a bit before he settled into his old spot in bed. Constance never even knew he was there. He was gone long before she woke up.
Lyla finally finished the masterpieces of her parents. They look awful! At least, she was able to finish them in time though.
Dexter and Lyla are enjoying the exciting moments most expected parents experience. They were talking about what to eat for dinner when Lyla felt the baby kicked. She quickly directed Dexter to the area and he held his hand their anxiously waiting to feel the baby. It won't be long now before the baby shows its face to the world.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, Dexter is glitched. His needs never decrease so he has lots of time to spend fishing to acheive his LTW. I like this octupus but it's not perfect so he'll use it as bait for another fish or selling it to the supermarket.
"Whoa, where are you going?"
Lyla: "Baby's coming. I need to get to the hospital."
"Why didn't you call a cab? I'm not sure riding your bike right now is a good idea."
Lyla: "It would have taken too long for a cab to get to my place."
"Really? I thought they showed up right away."
Lyla: "Are you really going to argue with a pregnant woman about to give birth?"
"I guess not, especially when they're a Roland."
Lyla: "Smart woman."
After a few short hours, baby Fawn was born. She was randomly assigned the loner and clumsy trait. It looks like she got her mother's skin tone but I can't be sure about the rest just yet.
It looks like Dexter has caught his first perfect fish. He better take good care of it so it doesn't die.
Wow! Dexter has purple eyes. That's kind of cool. I wonder if Fawn will get them.
I can't tell for sure but it looks like her eyes are a darker shade then Dexter's. I think Lyla has brown eyes so Fawn probably got her eye color. It's so nice to have three grown ups to take care of one baby. I can completely forget Fawn even exists but someone in the house will make sure she's taken care of.
Just for Constance, I created a little reading area upstairs away from the rest of the house. I've found her there enjoying her latest book a few times. I'm glad she finally has her own place in the house. She totally deserves it after deal with Eddie for so long.
Dexter's collection of perfect fish is quickly expanding. Three down another ten to go. He's off to a great start so far!

That's all for now, folks! What will happen next time with the Rolands? How many children will Dexter and Lyla have? How long will Constance live (she's already in her 90's)?

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