4.25 No two sims are the same

Dragan was a simple sim with few wishes in life. He took what life threw at him with an unnatural calmness. So when Neda asked to go with her to the autumnfestival, he went.

It was beautiful and sunny, like most early autumndays; so a bit of the spooky mood was lost. But nice weather was better than bad weather when beeing outside. Looking at the haunted house, he decided to check it out. From the screams he heard from the inside, it should be quite scary.

Calmly walking through it, he didn't see what other sims saw. Where was the terror? Some of the puppets were really well made, but the robotics made the movements choppy and less realistic. Not that realism would change anything, it still wasn't real. Hey! Maybe he could carve out a pumpkin later! It took a while before he realised that he'd gone through the entire building, and was standing outside. How long had he been standing here?

He forgot all about whatever he'd been thinking about, when he noticed a cute girl looking at him. Dragan really didn't pay that much attention to girls, becuase he rarely remembered what to say when recess came along. That's why it was good that he met her her, because this way there wouldn't be any pauses before they started talking.

Hi. I've seen your around school. Dragan wasn't that bad with faces, it was mainly names he forgot. Unless he actively went in and tried to remember them. So when she said her name was Lillian, he decided to think about her as dolleyes; because she had eyes like a doll.

Damn, look at the eyebrows on that one, he blurted out to Lillian, nearly forgetting he was supposed to remember talking to her.

I love kids! She exclaimed, even if she laughed a bit at the baby. That was one ugly baby.

The baby seemed to know what they were thinking, because he managed to look grumpier than the eyebrows suggested.

Oh, I love kids to! Dragan felt the lie slip out of his mouth before even realising it happening. He'd never thought about kids even once in his life. Why was he even lying about it, he was still a teenager and shouldn't think about it at all. Though, he sometimes wondered how it was to be a chipmunk, so it was probably nothing to worry about.

Really? Lillian rarely met anyone else her age that loved kids, so it was nice to meet one. He seemed a bit daft, but atleast he was really cute.

And I was a really cute baby to, he said pulling out his phone: the only cute baby in the family none the less. Well, that was almost true. But Lillian seemed to agree to his baby cuteness.

Neda had lost Dragan almost as soon as they had showed up at the park. Seeing her brother leaving the haunted house without looking even a bit startled, made her decide to give it a go.

It was horrifying! The dolls were creepy, the robotics used was so realistic and those damned workers that had dressed up and scared everyone was even worse! She came out at the other end a nervous wrech, and feeling sick to her stomach. She was so lucky she'd never had any trouble keeping her breakfast down!

Her breakfast disagreed and decided to make a run for it out of her stomach.

And as usual the cities citizens was all to happy to help a poor teenaged girl that wasn't feeling well.

Neda then decided to participate in the pieeating contest, even if she'd just thrown up.

Yeah, it wasn't a very big surprise she felt sick to her stomach again. But she sure wasn't going to throw up this time. No way would her stomach humiliate her in public a second time around.

Once again, her stomach disagreed. Neda felt even worse than before, and her entire face was full of pie! Could this day get any worse?

You are like the prettiest girl in school. Dragan was putting his best moves on Lillian; which mainly consisted of saying exactely what he though about: Good thing you are, because I'm cute so we'd look weird next to eachother if you weren't pretty. 

She seemed a bit confused for a second, so Dragan pulled out his biggest pearlywhite smile. For some reason girls like that. And he really felt like smiling when he looked at her.

To the approving hollering of a creepy policeoffier, Dragan tried kissing Lillian for the first time. it was clumsy, and he missed; but it still counted as a first kiss.

Since they'd gotten that far, Dragan asked her to go steady already. Might as well try right? And she even said yes! Damn, this was easy! Was this why Irena had changed boyfriends all the time?

From her upsidedown position, Neda saw her brother smooching some girl. That was so unfair! What about her? He was supposed to spend time with her today! Was he going to stop spending time with her now just because he was smooching some girl?

Why was it that Dragan sailed through school when she fought for her grades? Why did everyone approach him when she had to approach everyone? Why did everything come so easy to him when nothing came easy for her? They were twins! Why were they so different?

If it was the sight of someone kissing her brother, or the pirouette was to be unsaid. But Neda felt sick again and ran to the bathroom to throw up. Why did this keep happening to her!

Since Dragan was gone with the girl, Neda decided to try to chat up Arne, a friend of hers from school. He was nice enough to talk to, so maybe she should try to meet up with him outside of school to? Nah, they could stay school- friends. He was kind of dumb, and it showed when you talked to him for a while.

She talked to Berit after Arne left. She was another friend from school, but she kept forgetting she was a bit snarky. Usually not a problem, but she got on her nerves after a while. Neda decided that she could actually be friends with someone, and not want to spend tons of time with them. She had her cousin, Tara, for that.

Dragan and Lillians date was going great. After a nice dinner they took to the bowlingalley. This was going surprisingly smooth, and Dragan didn't forget Lillians name even one time. He was impressed with himself, and didn't care that she completly crushed him at bowling. He's never been athletic anyway. Besides, it was great that she was really good at something, so why not give her the credit she deserved?

They ended the very successful date with gazing at the stars. Well, mainly they gazed at eachother; she was a lot more interesting than stars.

And he even remembered to carve out a pumpkin before going to bed. This had been a very good day for Dragan. Very good. He kept forgetting that he'd gotten a girlfriend, but everytime the thought showed itself, he kept getting butterflies in his stomach. Wow, he had a girlfriend.

Stupid Dragan and his stupid girlfriend, she muttered internally.

Him and Lillian was inseparable now. Neda didn't seem to be able to get a boyfriend though. Just because she wasn't interested in anyone, didn't mean that the boys in school shouldn't be interested in her. Standing in front of mums makeup and clothes she decided to try on some of the makeup.

She completely failed to put on anything on the eyelids, but the glossy lipstick slid onto her lips without any problems. It was sticky and she tried moving her mouth without it ending up on her teeth. It almost succeded. Neda thought it looked pretty okay, but she didn't like the feeling of having it on. She could barely handle chapstick. It was fun playing a bit of dressup, and maybe mum had some pretty clothes that would fit her?

She silently opened the drawers one by one, looking through the carefully folded clothes. If mum or dad, or Dragan caught her, she'd be so embarassad that she'd die!

It wasn't to ignore though, that even if mum was thin; her boobs were enormous and the fabric would end up under her own no matter what she tried on. Mums clothes had very little cloth in them. She'd never really decided if she wanted to look like mum, or if she didn't.

Her hand grabbed onto a some pieces of paper. Without taking it up from the drawer, she almost expected it to be some more cheezy loveletters from dad. Because she'd come over them before, and boy they were embarassing.

These papers looked awefully official though. Neda quickly read through it several times, without fully understanding what they said.

She got the most important part of it though: reckless endangerment of a child, witholding parentalrights and some other stuffs she didn't really get. The name of the lawyer and the man suing her was pretty clear though.

Mum had endangered the baby; Catherine; the name was in the paper. And she hadn't even let the dad meet her! And she was missing. It didn't say exactely what had happened, but if mum hadn't been treating the baby well, she'd probably lost custody. That's what happened wasn't it?

Nedas young mind had an appifany; the mean old lady! The old lady mum and dad hoped were dead definitely had her! That's what had happened. Mum hadn't treated the baby well, and an old lady had adopted her. Now mum and dad were mad at the old lady!

But how could they be mad? If mum hadn't taken care of the baby properly then ofcourse someone took the baby away. That's what they did! Because parents didn't own babies, they weren't property!

She felt sorry for mum for a while. Someone had taken her baby from her. Maybe that's why she was so scared that one of them were going to go missing to.

Then  she got angry, because mum had been mean to a baby. A baby was innocent! And here they were having everything they wanted, and the poor baby didn't! She had an older sister somewhere, and mum and dad hadn't said one word! Not one little slip in so many years! How could they do this to them?! To her?! She deserved to know she had a family.

Letting the papers stay where they were, Neda got an idea. Maybe she was looking at this the wrong way. There was no point telling mum and dad, because they'd just lie. And Dragan had already said to let it go, besides; he only cared about his stupid girlfriend- just because she looked like a doll. Neda didn't look like a doll.

She'd never though she could feel this betrayed. Wonder how she looked like? Maybe her hair was red like Dragans, but she'd look like her; because she looked like mum, atleast that's what dad said. She thought she looked more like dad. Though, she'd know her if she saw her right? And she knew just where to start looking now. The most obvious place. But first she needed to wipe off the lipstick and beg a bit.

Daddy, can I have a computer? It was best to ask this way, because she usually got what she wanted. Atleast from dad, it was just mum that said "no" all the time: It would be a lot bettter to have my own for schoolwork and stuff. 

Just use the one in the dogroom. Office, I meant office. Daniel didn't really see the problem with letting the kids have their own. But Aino wasn't to fond of it. Not that he got why, because they had phones anyway.

He pretended not noticing the cat doing it's best impression of how he was sitting. For some reason Fudge absolutely adored him, and stalked him around the house. The most eerie thing was when the cat sat in the doorway and just stared at him. All this time, and he still didn't understand cats.

But daddy! Dragan overclocks it, and "fixes" it and makes it faster and I don't understand how to use it anymore. I just want a simple one that doesn't need me to be a computertechician to understand. And he's always on it! I never get to use it. I promise I won't post nudes of myself or something like that. Only the girls that care about what boys think about them, does that.

Daniel swallowed: I didn't even think about that! Why had she mentioned that to him? Now he was going to constantly worry about her getting groomed, and then blackmailed by creepy boys and men online!

Daddy! 

Fine! I'll talk to your mum and we'll order one. Okay? Sheesh, what was the problem. Let the girl have a computer of her own. Neda had a good head on her shoulder, she wasn't going to get tricked by some dude pretending to be a young girl or something. Even his airhead of a son didn't fall for that. This would definietly show his wife he was not a pushover.

Thank you daddy, Neda put on her sweetest voice.

The new laptop came the very next day. Dad was such a pushover that he'd payed the extra fee for an overnight delivery. And Neda didn't spend an time waiting before setting her plan in motion.
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Lillian is the daughter of FutureCarries Ashton Matthews btw. Finally a sim that doesn't have any connection to the family whatsoever, so she had to be claimed before anyone else sank their claws into her.

And I finally got a baby with eyebrows in game, and that's the eyebrow he gets? He better keep them until he turns into an adult.

I also have no idea why Neda keeps getting sick. She has the looser- trait, but as far as I've seen it just gives her the wish saying "win at a game- for once" and a pop- up from school saying that she sat in gum.

The girl that's beeing mentioned in the text, Tara, is vaguely seen in last chapter when Neda pillowfights with her. Figured I'd just mention her, so it doesn't seem like she's antisocial out of school, because she isn't. I just haven't found a good opportunity to show it in game, and probably won't either. It's just the usual karaoke- singing, going swimming thing, so nothing exiting happens. Point is, she has several friends and one bff.

Thanks for reading

4.24 Merry band of adventurers

What do you mean you're leaving? Now? What about university? You need an education! This was happening. It was actually happening! This was to soon. Aino wasn't prepared yet!

It's okay mum, I already got a job as a teacher. Optimism was always the best choice when the world was waiting.

You need to go to school! Daniel, say something! She couldn't leave now! And school was important!

What did he have to say? He hadn't gone to university either: I agree with your mum. You need university. You'll be able to start as a teacher right away, and you'll get payed more.

It wasn't all about paying lipservice to his wife; Daniel knew she was right. An education was the way to go. And it was best to have something to fall back on in case something happened. 

Nothing to worry about, I'm going to marry a rich old man and mooch off him! Irena had no idea what her parents was so worried about. She was all set to be an adult. Life as an adult was going to be the best thing.

Dad didn't appreciate what she just said though: What?!

No, sorry. I was just joking. No she wasn't. Or Bård, she could marry him to probably. Whatever.

Unfortunately, mum knew her better than she'd thought: Honey, you can't expect some man to take care of you! What if you break up? Then you'll end up on the streets all alone. And without an education as a backup. Or what if you get fired! Then you'll both end up on the streets.

Nah, then I'll just come back here. Easy peasy.

Had they really been that terrible parents? We're not going to be here forever!

Then I'll just stay with Neda or something. Irena still had everything planned out. Neda was going to be an old maid anyways.

Aino couldn't even think about calming down. When had this happened: You're not going to mooch off your sister!

Mum, I've made up my mind. I'm not going to university. Dad didn't go, and he's doing great! I've already gotten a place to live, so I'm just here to say goodbye to you. 

She was going to ask Bård to move in with her to. That way he could clean the place and pay the bills. Irena was still planning on getting a houseboat, but they were so bloody expensive.

Aino resigned, atleast she'd be close by.

You're sure you want to do this then Irena? Dad had to try one more time.

Daniel didn't believe pleading would work, he knew Irena to well for that. It wasn't that she was stubborn either, she was just very sure of what she wanted.

Yes dad. Everything will be fine. Usually those were famous last words, but Irena tended to always land on her feet.

I'm going to get the keys to my new place. Give it a few days, then come visit. Don't be a stranger. Okay mum? She might as well leave so dad could calm mum down. She'd come around eventually.

Okay honey. Aino didn't want her little baby to leave, she was still a little kid to her. Why couldn't she stay with her mum and dad?

Don't be a stranger, okay? Daniel hugged his little baby before she left. It was going to be empty around here without her. The two of them always had that extra special bond. Of all his kids, she really was the one that was most like him; as much as he hated admitting it at times.

I won't, she lied. She'd probably be to busy living the good life for a while. With no siblings or parents around.

Are you sure you don't want to wait to leave until after your brothers and sisters gets home from school?

I'd rather bathe with a toaster, she smiled. Not having her siblings around was by far the best part.

And just like that Irena was on the move. She'd even gotten a car.

It was a nice little place she had found for herself. A bit worn down around the edges, but nothing that wasn't possible to fix.

The parents might be sad that Irena had left, but for the kids it was positive. She'd been quite a dominating sim to live with.

Neda had her own little project going. Unable to forget what she'd overheard mum and dad talk about in Appaloosa plains, she'd tried figuring out what it was about. She hadn't found anything exciting about dad, but: Niko. What's mums maiden name?

Are you serious? You don't know mums maiden name?

No. How would she know that? Mum never said anything, and she couldn't find their marriagelisence.

Sometimes Niko forgot how much younger Neda was then him: Mallory. Mums' name was Mallory. When she married dad, she took his surname. That's how they ended up with the very common one instead: I think her dads name was Horsth- Mallory or something. Not sure what his firstname was, but it's not common here, so can't be that hard to find.

I'm not sure what her mums name was though; probably Horsth since that was grandpas middlename. Think it's how that works atleast. 

Neda didn't actually care about that, she'd just wanted to have something to search for online. She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for, but someone was missing, and someone was an ancient old crust. Maybe even both at the same time. So the most natural place to start with was family, right?

Okay. I just wanted to look into mums familytree, so I need her name. Though, come to think about it; most likely it would be that mum had a sister. An older one probably that she didn't have contact with anymore.

Why don't you just ask her then?

If that was the case, it would make her the hero of the family! Reuniting the estranged sisters! Uhm... It's a schoolproject. 

I kind of wanted to do it myself.  She wanted the glory all on her own. Ofcourse she'd figured out that there was someone involved mum didn't want to meet, but she'd be dead now anyway. So her best guess was a missing sister. Or atleast it would be until the next time she changed her mind about who it could be.

Niko knew that she rarely finished anything on her own, usually because she failed before getting there. I get that. Why don't you ask Dragan, he knows where to look these things up.

They got the news that Irena had married her boyfriend just a few days after moving out; though the place they lived was far from a pretty one. Aino wondered how her little baby could live in this worn down place. Her and Bård should move back home to them. 

Isn't it a nice place gorgeous? Daniel tried to pretend he didn't know what his wife was thinking. Even if he was thinking the same thing himself.

I know the place is a bit run down mum, Irena knew what she was thinking, she'd thought the same thing: But it's whole and mouldfree. 

She did have a point. The cupboards were whole and the furniture looked pretty new. The wallpaper was terrible, but a fresh layer of paint would do the trick.

Irena continued: We are working and saving simoleons right now, so we'll get it fixed up eventually. Okay?

Okay

That didn't mean that Aino wouldn't go all mum on her oldest daughter, and make sure she had something proper to eat. Bet she only ate frozen pizza and bad food like that!

Daniel tried beeing a bit less paternal: So how are you enjoying beeing married? None of them cared that they hadn't been invited to a wedding. From what they understood, they hadn't had even a small ceremony.

It's okay. Not much have changed really. Bård's a chef, Irena said it a bit to loudly to make sure mum heard it: Between the two of us we're doing well enough finacially. And I've already gotten a promotion. 

That's nice sweety. Good thing her husband was a chef, because Irena couldn't even boil water.

It seemed like Irena was barely out of the house before Niko celebrated his birthday.

He planned on travelling around a bit before settling down somewhere, but for that he needed a better wardrobe; a practical yet stylish one. Damn, look at that. He really didn't have a butt.

Neda didn't want her bigbrother to leave; he'd be gone by the time they came home from school. And mum and dad hadn't let them skip either. That was so unfair.

Don't be upset Neda, I'm just going to Shang Simla first. I'll phone you when I get there okay? 

Shang Simla was like at the end of the world! And probably dangerous!

It's a small place that's full of tombs, and I'll be around several other experienced sims okay? It's perfectly safe. 

She wasn't so sure about that.

Dragan wasn't thrilled either, and did his best to pretend he wasn't crying. That was until his bigbrother hugged him: There there, It'll be okay. I'll call. Why was everyone so upset? Phones existed. Niko had to remind Dragan of that several times as he sobbed into his shoulder, leaving a wet spot on his jumper.

Aino was terrified that something was going to happen to her little babyboy. And why did he have to leave town? And for Shang Simla? That was like at the other end of simplanet! Her husband didn't seem to thrilled either.

Mum, everything will be fine, I'll be together with several other sims; experienced ones, Niko repeated. He hoped atleast, he really should have checked it better out.

Daniel plastered on a smile; why the hell would he be an explorer? That wasn't an actual job: So what are you merry band of adventurers looking for? He kind of imagined Niko with a long wizards robe and a pointy hat; full on covered with stars and a little magic wand with a star at the end.

We're going to try to find whereabouts of Pangus axe. Niko said, giving up on explaing to his parents that he was assisting on an actual excavationsite. He assumed they wouldn't find the actual ax, but that wasn't important to him. He wanted to live a bit before settling down. 

That sounds very dangerous. Aino was sure it would fall from the ceiling and hit her son across the head.

It's not dangerous. Niko laughed: everything will be done properly, it's even funded by a university. Okay? I'm just the help. I'll call you when I get there. 

When you meet a girl....

Niko smiled, mum was hopeless: I'm there to work mum

When you meet a girl, tell us okay. She really wanted to be a grandma.

He sighed: Sure mum. Why did they all assume he'd be back in a few weeks? He'd dreamt about this his entire life.

Aino and Daniel both disliked his decision. But there wasn't a lot they could do about it. He'll be fine right?

He'll be fine gorgeous. Atleast he assumed he'd be. This whole business sounded dangerous.

Just as promised, Niko did call when he arrived and the whole thing did seem safe. He was nice enough to send them some video he'd taken from the tomb. It looked a bit more boring that Neda had thought; it had looked completely empty to her eyes.

She still enjoyed her teenaged life, without any worry about what to do when growing up.

Dragan kept looking up and down, even if he didn't need to look at the keyboard when typing. His thin fingers having a lot of practice, flew over the buttons at a speed Neda couldn't even dream of. She knew how to type at a normal speed ofcourse, but nothing like her twinbrother could.

Here's ours atleast. He kept typing as he looked up at the screen again: And there's Nikos, and... he typed a bit more: And Irena. He bet she had been a fat baby with all that pettiness stuffed inside her: That's it. Just the four of us.

Dragan... Did you remember to look at mums maiden name?

Like any real investigator she hadn't told him why she was looking. She'd just repeated what she'd told Niko, but since they were in the same class; she just said she wanted to make a familytree. Dragan was so gullible at times she almost felt guilty.

He grinned: I forgot. What was it again?

Mallory, or Horsth Mallory.

He didn't look at her before he started typing again. She assumed it was legal, it was just that she didn't know how or what to look for. Besides, she needed birthcertificats. Because any other papers wasn't necessarily correct. Atleast she thought so.

He stopped typing after a while and started rubbing his chin: Here's an Ian Horst- Mallory... Parents Dominic Mallory and Nanette Horsth

Probably mums dad and his parents; you know; grandpa, Dragan. 

He didn't answer for a while again: Yeah, it's pretty old so... He kept rubbing his chin and staring at the screen, sometimes tapping a button with one finger.

Neda bet he'd forgotten what he was doing: Dragan, let's keep looking

He kept rubbing his chin without answering

Dragan. Neda loved her brother, but he was a massive airhead

Yeah, I found something. It's a birthcertificate for a Catherine Mallory. It's a bit before Irena was born.

What? Holy shit! They'd actually found something? Had she actually had an idea that turned out to go somewhere?! Because mum was an only child, that she was certain of! And that was probably how this worked, right?

Neda jumped up from the seat to look for herself: Dragan that's amazing. I can't believe you found something!

Yeah I'm really good. He had the same ammount of belief in his own skills as the rest of the family. 

What else does it say?! This could be the start to finding every answer she was looking for!

Nothing... It doesn't say anything. Nothing about who the dad is, nothing. But mum's the mum. Obviously.

What? She looked over his shoulder, seeing the clear "unknown" where the fathers name should be. How was that possible: I don't get it. Why hasn't dad signed it?

Because he's not the dad. She knew she was lost when even Dragan pointed out the obvious. 

He could be the dad, maybe he just doesn't know about her. But, if this was what mum and dad talked about, he did know about it. But maybe he just didn't know about it back then?

Nah, he's not the dad. Dragan insisted: If he were the dad, she'd be living with us. Doesn't make sense any other way. 

Sometimes Neda wondered how it was to have such a simple view on simlife.

He continued: Dad wouldn't not know about a kid he has, especially with our mum. They're married after all. And she's not a lot older than Irena, so he'd know about her. 

Dragan turned the computer off. He had such an easy time finding things online, he wasn't always sure when he crossed over into hacking: I think you should let it stay where it is Neda. I'm not helping you anymore.

At the back of his mind he hoped Neda wouldn't think about looking for a deathcertificate or adoptionpapers. If dad didn't know about this, it was best not to say anything. And if he knew, it was still best not to say that they knew. Sometimes secrets should stay secrets. Not that he got what this had to do with Nedas project, wouldn't she want to know the name of mums mum and her parents again? Then he forgot to think deeper about it.
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Irena and Niko grew up. I realise that there's not a good picture of Niko, but he looks exactely the same as earlier so I figured it wasn't a big loss; he's just a bit taller than before.

And yeah, Neda and Dragan are still a lot younger than their sibling, so it's not without reason she doesn't consider the most obvious things. Or even why her thoughtprocess isn't completely coherent all the time.

Thanks for reading