Before we get to the actual events in this update, some random snapshots of daily life at Gina and Gabriel's.
Best friends with Meadow
Popularity kids like having Best Friends.
"So whaddya wanna do now?"
Romance Sims also like having Best Friends, narf narf.
The Midnight Nanny, right on schedule
Extremely creepy. At least now that Gabriel's a teenager she never comes inside anymore.
Talking to her dad about growing up.
I haven't been all that good about families keeping in touch, but I do remember now and then. Mitch knows all his daughters pretty well, but I don't know if Gina's ever met her twin little sisters.
Massive hanging out.
They have lots of people over these days, to satisfy Gabriel's various Wants. Clockwisish from topish, that's Kaylynn Langerak (former maid, former lover of Gina's mom and older sister, now living poshly down the street), Dawson Day (Gabriel's father, still a dormie at SSU at this point), Mitch Lawson (Gina's dad, former firefighter), the pregnant Lucy Hanby (another former maid, now married to Damion Cormier next door), Gabriel Raptor, and George McCarthy (former townie cashier, now at SSU).
Gina always seems to be in the tub when I install patches and upgrades. This has amusing results.
"Mom, geez!"
"Put something on!"
Gina's wasn't the first lot to have a car (that was Suzette) or a dance sphere (that was Sally; I should post that picture some time) or a buyable hot tub (that was The Place), but she was the first to have all three.
New toys!
I think they're coming out to "What's This?" the dance sphere here.
"Go, Mom!"
Gina takes the sphere very seriously. And everything else for that matter.
Gina's special friend Katelyn tried it out too.
In her cute college undies.
Gabriel enjoys the hot tub.
And also Jen.
Somewhere in here, Dawson Day notionally graduated from college, and finally relinquished his International Man of Mystery status by moving in with his lover and his son.
Welcome Dawson; here's your plumb bob!
He started out as Popularity I think it was; but see below.
Whoa, funky threads!
Or other words to that effect.
"Ooh, what's in here? Hey!"
My first (I think) use of the Orb; I could have left him popularity just like Gabriel, but I decided (perhaps because of the clothes) to try Pleasure. His new LTW is 50 Dream Dates; yowza!
"College is a great place to meet people!"
Pointers from the Old Man.
Dawson and Gina got started with the in-home dates at once, and by the time he went off to his new government job, he was in a Good Mood.
Woo hoo!
Too bad he can't wear his ordinary clothes to work; it'd really liven up the Capitol building. *8)
A few more Popularity snapshots.
Yet another party
Gina and Eleanor both have permanent party buffets now. Gabriel and Jen embracing by the tub, Lucy Hanby from next door talking to townie Andrea in the tub, and some childhood friend of Gabriel's walking toward the bubble blower (another new toy). Other party guests and lot residents inside.
Gabriel and his teenage Uncle Phoenix
Uncle in the "mother's mother's adopted son" sense. Very mature looking teenager Phoenix turned out to be, eh?
Gabriel and his girlfriend's twin sister
The potential for love triangles here is just tooooo obvious. (Odd that, although Phoenix and Jan are both private school students like Gabriel, when he brings them home from school they aren't in uniform.)
Dawson's lifetime ambition is to have fifty Dream Dates. He's currently up to ten, all of them with Gina, and most of them in quick succession. Pretty much whenever they're both home, they're 'dating'. With all those nice Need boosts, who needs to eat or sleep?
Where their dates generally end up.
They both get huge Aspiration Point boosts from it all, too. (Gina's teddy, as usual, from Rose.)
A bouquet of roses.
Just put it right next to that other bouquet of roses.
Yet another bouquet of roses.
The front hall is full, and now the bathroom is getting cluttered.
Gina looking all romantic while delivering some roses.
One of my very favorite pictures of her. These "Sims" are frighteningly realistic sometimes. (The face anyway; her arms are a little polygony.)
Now that his Dad wasn't a student there anymore (how freaky would that be, eh?), Gabriel found the idea of college (all those new people to meet!) increasingly attractive. Eventually, armed with the A+, Creativity, and Dancing scholarships (I think it was), he made the call.
"We'll miss you."
While standing behind an open door where he's hard to photograph, of course. So much happens in that front hall that I really ought to widen it some for photographic purposes. The taxicab lights are visible through the door glass.
Off to a new stage of life.
This picture requires little comment. *8) Note, though, that Gabriel doesn't mind his Mom smooching the Prof there, because it's a greeting, and greetings don't count. Note also that Gabriel is in his PJs, and is pretty tired and relatively low on aspiration.
(Gabriel has since arrived at college, and is staying at the same dorm as George McCarthy; more pictures from there later, no doubt.)
One man's moved in, and one's moved out, and life continues.
Off to do some shopping.
In her undies. That's Marylena somebody waving from the sidewalk; a casual acquaintance that Gina's never taken to bed (although her big sister has).
And since there's at least one day a week when Dawson's at work and Gina's not...
Gina's still very fond of Katelyn.
I can't quite figure out what Katelyn's saying here. The symbology suggests "an improved date" or "a more expensive date". Given that they were recently engaged in amorous recreation, maybe it just means "a very nice date". Although they aren't actually on a date right now. Maybe she's reminiscing about some past date.
End of update. Still to come eventually: all sorts of other stuff. *8)