Mesa Vista - my BaCC for fun: Week 3, Part 5(b)
Continued from Part 5(a)
Zach passed by Kerie's house with no intention of stopping... until he happened to see her in the window holding a toddler.
"Man, Mama!" Noah said, pointing out the window.
Kerie saw who Noah was pointing at and immediately tensed.
She cursed her lack of money... she couldn't even afford to buy curtains (not that she could get any in Mesa Vista at the moment anyway). She really needed a promotion.
She moved slowly but deliberately away from the window so as not to alarm Noah. What, she wondered, would she do if Zach came to the door?
But to her relief, Zach didn't.
"Okay, it's time to find Uncle Brandon, Mommy's got to go work!"
Kerie hoped tonight would be the night she got her job back as a Nurse so she could go back on the dayshift. Thankfully she did get promoted, and this time she'd be more careful around that supervisor...
While Kerie worked, Noah was left in the capable hands of his Uncle Brandon.
Brandon was a Romance Sim, but he enjoyed his role as Noah's uncle, in part because he could enjoy a kid without actually having to have one.
And he was happy to have a role in making Kerie's life a little easier.
Not that Kerie would dream of shirking her parental responsibilities when she was at home.
And like little Stan Shin, just in case Noah ever wanted to be an Entertainer...
Kerie was the first resident of Mesa Vista to receive a rather unexpected gift from the Gypsy. She didn't care if it was cheating, she was working damned hard and deserved a break for a change!
Her first wish was for wealth, the second for youth, and the third she saved for Brandon.
"My wish is for, um..." Brandon self-consciously cleared his throat, "beauty."
"WAIT... BEAUTY?"
"See, I managed to get some good hair, but... this mug? Romance Sim..?"
"YOUR WISH FOR BEAUTY IS GRANTED!"
"'nowman!"
"Handsome fellow, isn't he? Just like you, Noah."
The Genie had granted him beauty, but Brandon couldn't see a whit of difference in the mirror.
"Pay 'nowman!" Noah demanded, struggling to get down.
"Just for a minute, it's cold."
Brandon had just put Noah in front of the snowman when a throaty voice called his name.
"Come here, you hunka burnin' love you!"
"Cold, go house, Uncle Bandon!"
Brandon broke off Yvette Tan's surprise smooch and hurried after Noah, mumbling, "Sorry, gotta get the kid inside."
"You be sure to give me a call and I'll show you a real good time, sugar!"
"Right, g'night..."
The following morning Brandon thought Kerie was looking particularly radiant and fought the urge to grab and give her a smooch much like Yvette had last night. Strange, he had never felt anything beyond friendship for her, but now...
"Brandon, I... for the first time I have this inexplicable urge to kiss you."
"First time for you too?"
"Yes, though now I don't know what I was waiting for! I must have been blind... you're positively gorgeous!"
Gorgeous? Him? And that's when the realization hit.
So that's what the Genie's brand of beauty was, it had nothing at all to do with what he saw in the mirror! He scanned his friends panel and saw that every single woman had three lightning bolts next to her picture. ZOMG HE HAD HIT THE MOTHERLODE!
But Kerie? No. Kerie was his best friend. He and Kerie had had exactly zero bolts before, and to take advantage of this turn of events... no, it was just wrong.
"I have something to tell you. You and me? This isn't what you think it is..." and Brandon continued by confessing his wish to the Genie and what subsequently happened the previous night with Yvette Tan.
"Thank you for being so honest, Brandon, now I almost believe there could be a good man out there for me."
There seemed to be no end to the parade of men stopping at her house! This one, however, was much easier to ignore.
"Go ahead, you can have the honor."
Brandon eyed Kerie a little uncertainly and then shrugged good-naturedly.
They're so cute together, she thought with a smile.
"Okay, Noah, time to blow out the candles and become a big boy! Are you ready?"
"Weady!"
"Count to three and blow!" Kerie said. "One, two..."
"Free!"
Noah grew up into a very handsome young man, and he was very happy with his soccer uniform.
Oh no!
(Oh yeah!)
Brandon caught sight of the burglar too late, and all he could do was watch as the thief ran off with the pictures above the couch.
Noah was understandably traumatized...
Brandon still had a hard time believing his incredible good fortune and couldn't resist testing it out with the women who walked by the house, of course while Kerie and Noah were at work and school.
But it worked every single time!
The memory of the burglar began to fade as the Ng household settled into their new routine. Kerie appreciated Brandon more than ever before, but she couldn't expect him to live like a monk, and one little slip on either of their parts... plus now that Noah was older, Brandon's queue of new lady friends was not the kind of example she wanted for her son.
The best friends enjoyed one last game of catch while Noah started collecting bugs, his Uncle Brandon's snowman stubbornly hanging on well into the Spring.
"Bye, we're going to miss you."
"I'll just be down the street."
"Moving you in was the best thing I ever did for Noah and me."
"Best days of my life, Kerie."
"I have a hunch they'll be getting even better."
"I think you're right!"
"Why did I have to come with you? I don't even like shopping."
"I can't leave you home alone, Noah, you know that. Why don't you go see if you can find a shirt you like."
Noah didn't like anything in the store, he liked his soccer uniform.
He missed having Uncle Brandon around. He wanted to be older so he didn't have to do dumb stuff like this with his mom.
"If you can't make up your mind, I'll pick one for you."
His heart just wasn't in it, so he picked one willy-nilly and went to the changing room.
"Do you like it?" Kerie asked.
"I don't know... maybe."
"If you want it, great, if not, put it back."
Noah headed back to the changing room, still trying to make up his mind...
... and said to the lady standing next to it, "You're having a baby, huh."
"Hello there, yes I am. What's your name?"
"Noah."
"Pleased to meet you, Noah."
"That's my mom over there," he said, pointing to the line at the register.
Nikki's heart started beating a little faster when she saw Kerie Ng. She had almost forgotten about Kerie. And then she peered at Noah's face more closely...
....
"That ended like one of those TV soap operas!"
"I can't bear to watch."
So, what's going to happen in Week 4 of Mesa Vista? Things to look forward to: the two oldest Outside girls and perhaps a couple of others will be going to Uni, and hopefully some of the other kids will get to know each other - I'm looking forward to that.
I also want to add that the Nikki/Kerie showdown at Diane's wedding, Zach's first encounter with baby Noah, and Noah's encounter with Nikki were entirely autonomous, as I was playing different families at the time. My Mesa Vista residents are giving me a ton of stuff to work with. :D
Thanks for slogging through this really really long week of Mesa Vista with me, and Happy Simming!
*drumroll*
MESA VISTA'S WEEK 3 STATS:
Playable Sims: 22 (21 + 1 grave)
SM: 13
Population: 286
Community Lots: 8 + military base
Residential Lots: 8
Business Districts: 1
Universities: 1 (privately funded)
Earned CAS: 18, Placed: 7, Available: 11
Burglaries: 2
Fires: 1
Graves: 1
Careers:
Athletic: unlocked
Business: unlocked
Medical: unlocked
Military: unlocked
Architecture: 3 openings, 2 taken
Criminal: 2 openings
Education: 1 opening
Slacker: 1 opening
Public Uni Taxes collected @ 10% of lot and business values: $137,850
Plus a little recap of important additions/changes that impacted the score:
Adams - Josh born, plus another one on the way, Nikki became a Business Tycoon (hello Business District!)
Cameron/Mazza - Nellie Mazza born, Neil Cameron passed away, Holly Days community business established
Shin - Diane and Stephan married, Stan born
Sims - Just Desserts community business established
Ng - Brandon London moved out