She may also be asking people to sign the petition to keep her on the city's payroll, because as she gains more experience they're forced to promote her and pay her more, even though they don't respect her line of work. The sims universe is a strange one.
Martin got old between this chapter and the last one. He's the one in the pic below with pointy ears.
Cruz Caspian is impressed by the Banshee Banisher. Paprika has decided to chat with this guy because he's wearing a really dumb tie at a casual-wear party.
The mayor suddenly calls Martin in for a ceremony and presents him with the key to the city. Just a silly trinket, really, but half of Paprika's party runs off to watch Martin's ceremony. Including Halen?
Oh, vampires.
Not creepy at all.
Martin's ceremony stole all the excitement from Paprika's party, so it's not long before she and Cruz are left alone.
"I held the party in the front yard because... the wallpaper... I'm having second thoughts about how presentable it is..."
"It's lovely," Cruz whispers. The only bright colors he can see in this room are the orange hues in Paprika's hair.
Paprika's father taught her how to give one hell of a massage. He knew it would come in handy when Paprika would inevitably want to seduce a husband and continue the family line, but he never envisioned the skill being used on a man she'd only started talking to three hours ago.
"So, there are some things I want to know," she says.
"What things?"
Paprika drags the man to her grandmother's old room, since she lacks a large enough bed in her own room.
Cruz stares at her. "Maybe we should... get to know each other a..."
"Shut up and kiss me," she says. Cliche, but it works.
And Mom walks in after the deed. Cruz considers asking her to join in.
Paprika quickly pulls her coat back around herself. "Mom! Out!"
Cruz stops considering asking her to join in.
"I... I didn't see anything," Melody stammers, before rushing out.
Cruz soon has to leave for work. Paprika's party was awesome, verging on epic.
The next day, Paprika is feeling a little sick.
"Do you love the guy?" Halen asks.
"Whaaaat? No. Well, yes, I... I like everyone. I want everybody to be happy. And we were happy."
Emphasis on were.
Across town, Martin plays some video games with his brothers and niece.
When Martin starts dressing every guy in town like Han Solo, they realize he's gone senile.
Chain of events:
1.) Paprika becomes visibly pregnant.
2.) Martin looks confused.
3.) Melody tattles.
4.) Martin yells at Paprika for screwing some guy she barely knows in her grandmother's bedroom.
5.) Paprika complains about not having her own bedroom with a double bed.
6.) That's not the point! She barely knows the guy!
Melody has a birthday, and achieves her goal of growing eight different species of perfect plant. Martin is slipping in his old age; he says nothing about his wife gardening in these clothes.
Scientists talking. Kory is a workaholic and has been flying through promotions. And wardrobes.
"Son, you have to understand you'll be set
on fire a lot in the lab. For science."
After making Kory look like Han Solo (though only in Everyday Wear #3), Martin asks to go inside and turns on Cody's stereo. Much like gnomes, party animal sims gravitate towards the stereos in any house and turn them on as a first order of business. Luckily, Cody is OK with this.
Paprika is too embarrassed about her pregnancy to have parties for a while. That doesn't stop her from playing chess under gobo lights.
She hasn't told Cruz about the impending baby. She's decided her child doesn't particularly need two parents, especially with all the extended family around as role models. Why bother Cruz about this? For all she knows, he already has a family. She never even asked.
Cruz's sister, Araceli, is an intern at the hospital. When Paprika goes into labor and rushes herself to the logical place, the snoopy Riverview medical staff all take a peek at the person listed as father on the baby's birth certificate. Araceli makes a phone call, and Cruz rushes over.
"Why didn't you tell me, Paprika?..." He sounds out of breath. He sounded that way in the hospital and in the taxi, too, but Paprika wasn't listening. "It doesn't matter. Don't be afraid. I'll take care of you and our son."
"Zephram," Paprika murmurs.
Cruz's nose crinkles a bit. "Yes. You and Zephram. Don't worry about a thing. I work full time. We can be a family, everything will be fine."
Paprika doesn't need to be taken care of. She isn't looking forward to explaining this.
________________________________________
Etc.: Halen's urn is resting in the basement near Jazz's. One night her ghost came out like normal, but then would not leave. It roamed the house for two days straight and even followed most of Paprika's guest list to Martin's ceremony at City Hall. I've had house ghosts stay an hour or two after 6 AM, when they normally fade back into their urns, but I've never seen one stay for that long... or leave the home lot.
I HATE PARTIES. More than two guests, and the house is cramped. I buy a dance floor for the living room, but then the guests all hang out near the front door. I try to have the party outside, and they all run down into the basement. The parties are over before I can complete a third of the actions I had plotted to do. Bleh.
The roll for Zephram's generation (generation 6) is single parent with "help," 4 kids, primary career science, secondary career part-time work, change of scenery and fighter. There's a lot I don't like about this roll, but I consider my Joker used since the failed "random" thing back in generation 4.
Paprika's second child will be the heir, but that doesn't necessarily mean Zephram has to go, since I rolled "help." And since I don't HAVE to kick him out, I probably won't. I am weak. Unless he turns out super hideous or something.
The ghost thing happened to me, too. Ewan hung around for four days. I ended up resetting the lot because he would not leave.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the party hate. Unless I've got that stupid party to remember roll, I have them at venues if I have them at all.