Already in Progress, Chapter 25

Howdy hi, and welcome to Chapter 25 of Already in Progress – the chapter where the
spin-offs, well, spin off.
Other than that, not a whole lot happens. Meh, life’s not a-thrill-a-minute 100% of the
time either. But there are baybeez in this chapter. Oodles and oodles of baybeez.
Okay, lots of baybeez.
Fine! There are three! Are you happy now? (sulkily) And I bet you want me to say
something like “And without further ado, let’s get on with our story: Already in
Progress!” don’t you? Well, I’m not gonna. Because there’s no point when the story is
Already in Progress…

Ryan Miller is now in college. That leaves just Lucky, Byron, Jerome, and Amy at home.

Or perhaps not.
LUCKY: Caryl? Is that really you?
CARYL:
GRIM REAPER: .re y.. r..dy t. .o, M.. .il…?
LUCKY: You bet I am! Hang on, honey, I’ll just be a second.

LUCKY: Drink – suitcase – hula zombies – Yup, I’ve got everything.
GRIM REAPER: Ri… ..is wa., .r. Mi…r. Wa… yo.. ste..

Lucky Miller, the same age as Byron. Lucky was pretty good-looking, as chickens go,
and was happily married for years to a Strict Family Values girl, achieving his LTW of
Reach Golden Anniversary with her. Due to an overcrowded house, they only had three
children, all boys. Lucky was never gainfully employed, but he could change a diaper in
thirty seconds, blindfolded. Lucky’s biggest regret about leaving this life was probably
that he didn’t get to see his youngest child get married.
Rest in peace, Lucky.
Changing the subject…

Bertie is doing quite nicely, as you can see. If you want more details, I recommend
checking out the very first AiP spinoff, aptly titled Everybody Loves Bertie, coming soon
to a forum near you! (More specifically, to the “Challenges” forum on Boolprop.)
</shameless self-promotion>

Since Mifune is the youngest in his house, and therefore the heir, before he headed off to
college, Robin gave him the deed to QND.
You know, the family store?
The one Robin inherited from his uncle?
The place where everyone goes to buy their clothes? Don’t tell me you don’t remember!
(sulkily) Oh, never mind.

Both Cillian and Mifune are now at college. Mifune is rather more pleased with his
transition outfit than Cillian.
But they are still getting wardrobe changes stat.

Gerard married Beverly Mazza in a ceremony that was well attended and a great deal of
fun, despite one of the guests having the poor taste to wear the same dress as the bride.
(Not pictured.)
Gerard and Beverly subsequently moved in with the rest of the band, and if you want
further updates on them, you can check out Everybody Loves Bertie. </shameless self-
promotion…again>
<cue change of subject>

Kitty? Is there any particular reason you’re dumping water on your husband?
KITTY: Yes.
Aaaand what is it?

MIRCEA: (splutters) Who – ? Wha – ? Urgh…
KITTY: Heatstroke. (to Mircea) Go inside and have something to drink, you doof. And
take off a couple layers. The kids are in their underwear already, and I only got dressed to
come out here.
MIRCEA: Unngh… (stumbles towards the house)
Simon’s running around in his underwear too? I thought he was on the shyer side.

KITTY: Simon’s at college. Did you forget?
Um…
KITTY: The heat must be getting to you, too. Go stick your head under the cold tap or
something.
I’m directly in front of the fan, actually. I’m good. How are the twins?

KITTY: Teenagers.
And?
KITTY: And Tirtha’s slimmed down some, and she looks so much like her grandmother
it’s scary, and her grades have improved, and she’s actually quite interesting to talk to.
And Nirel’s on this military kick, and he has decided to become Family for some reason
or other, and he helps Tirtha with her homework, and Simon calls every day to talk to the
both of them. Is that enough “ands” for you?
Yes, thanks. You’ve gotten cranky in your old age, haven’t you?
KITTY: Pfffff. Get on out of here, already.
Fine, be that way.

PERRY: Harkon, what do you think you’re doing?
HARKON: Practicing my dance moves.
PERRY: You call that dancing? Why would you want to practice that?
HARKON: I read an article online that said that if you dance well, that means that you’re
also good at – (remembers to whom he is talking) I mean – To win a guy’s heart?
PERRY: That kind of dancing isn’t the way to win anyone’s heart. Or to make them think
that you’re good at – I mean. Your mother and I will show you. Amy?

PERRY: First, you take your partner’s hand, like so. (demonstrates) Then, you put your
other hand on their waist, so. (demonstrates) You want to lead, of course. You can show
off better that way. Then you move closer to your partner. Like so. (demonstrates)
(Amethyst giggles)
PERRY: And you gaze deeply into their eyes, so. (demonstrates) This is the most
important person in the whole world for you. No one and nothing else exists, except this
moment, and their eyes. And then you step even closer, so. (demonstrates) And if they’re
gazing into your eyes too, you can let your hand drift a little further south, so.
(demonstrates) Not too far, though. You’re a considerate gentleman.
AMETHYST (dreamily): Gentlemen are so rare nowadays.
PERRY: And then you can gently oh so gently guide your partner’s other hand to your
shoulder, so. (demonstrates) And in the same motion, you trail your hand down their arm
to just between their shoulder blades and take another half step in, so. (demonstrates)
(Amethyst sighs and rests her head on Perry’s shoulder)
PERRY: And if your partner does that, then you’re in like Flynn. What you do is you
shift your weight, so… (demonstrates)

PERRY: …and you dip them down for a kiss. Like so. (demonstrates)
AMETHYST: No, that wasn’t right, Perry.
PERRY: It wasn’t?
AMETHYST: Nope, you weren’t nearly smooth enough. You need some more practice.
HARKON: I, I, I, I just remembered that I have overdue library books! I better go return
them before I get even more fines! Thanks for the lesson, Da! (flees)
PERRY: Since when has he had a library card?
AMETHYST: Who cares? More practice, mister. Upstairs.

And while the dance lesson was going on, Cat Cat set off on a different type of learning
experience.
CAT CAT: Mrow wowwow meep?
GRIM REAPER: Pr….oo, …rrrow r….rrm.
And speaking of ex-pets…

Have you ever seen a ghost dog digging ghost holes? I think it’s really neat.
Of course you’ve seen this already. You are a much more experienced and sophisticated
Sims player than I am. Anyway, this is the ghost of Snuggles, who was the family pet in
Trixie’s house back when Rosie was her age.

Trixie is an energetic little girl who throws herself into whatever she does with
enthusiasm, if not always skill. She loves her Little Baker oven, and pretty much keeps
herself fed, but she tends to get distracted during the baking time. I’m glad the kids’
ovens don’t catch fire.

Trixie likes her nanny, Karen Gast. (Who is still made of awesome, by the way. Tip her
early, often, and generously.)
ROSIE: Ixietray, I’myay omehay! Ancay Iyay etgay ayay ughay?
TRIXIE: I’myay usybay. – Bye, Nanny Karen! I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?
NANNY KAREN: Be good now, Trixie.

She likes jumping on the bed.
ROSIE: Ixietray, ancay ouyay etgay ownday, easeplay?
TRIXIE: Nuh-uh.

She likes dancing with Daddy.
ROSIE: Eyhay Ixitray, antway ootay ayplay Edray Andshay?
TRIXIE: Onay. – I like dancing with you, Daddy.
ROBI: I like dancing with you, too, sugarlump.

And she loves playing Whap! with Rosie.
ROSIE: Ow! Areyay ouyay yingtray ootay urthay emay?
TRIXIE: Um…

I doubt she could articulate why she keeps rejecting Rosie’s overtures, though.

Sarah Jane and Timmy – I mean Tim! – are doing well. Even the frequent visits by a
ghostly Moonshine aren’t considered problems. Tim, being a Knowledge Sim, flat-out
enjoys them. Unfortunately, they interfere with Sarah Jane’s sleep, and since she’s
expecting, the grave had to go.

TIMOTHY: That’s it! That’s my girl! You can do it! Come on now: heeeeee hoooo,
heeeeee hoooo!
Okay, fine. How would you transliterate Lamaze breathing?

SARAH JANE: Ohhhh, Timmy, that’s not hellllping! You’re a – eeeyoooow – terrible
birth coach!
TIMOTHY: Come on, one big push now! You can do it!
SARAH JANE: I can’t do this, Timmy, I just can’t! (sniffles, then wails) I want my
mommy!

But even though Emmy wasn’t there to help, Sarah Jane gave birth to a healthy baby boy,
who was promptly named Descartes. As you can see, he’s quite a thinker already.
Descartes is currently a complete cutie-pie, but then, all babies are by definition cute.
(Miss Manners says so, and she wouldn’t lie. Right?) We’ll see just which bits he
inherited from whom once he becomes a toddler.
For the record, I’ve always pronounced “Descartes” as “day-CART,” which probably just
shows what an uneducated Philistine I am, but oh well. That is how this little guy’s name
is pronounced as well.
You know what name isn’t hard to pronounce? Ruth.

Now, Ruth is actually in college, and she has a Dessstiny to fulfill, which she will do in
an AiP spin-off entitled Ruth’s (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge, coming soon to
a Boolprop forum near you. </further shameless self-promotion>
But we can check in on her folks while we’re in the neighborhood.

Valerie has become an Elder. Fittingly, she does it in the specially “creative” area of the
basement.
Tcha – what kind of an example are you setting for my impressionable readers, Valerie?
As for Aren –

Oh, for the love of – STOP! AREN, STOP! Don’t you remember what happened to your
parents?
Oh crap oh crap oh crap… (cancels “Fire!” interaction, directs Aren to call the fire
department and then to go somewhere else, anywhere else)

It worked! Oh, thank goodness!
Aren, sweetie, I think you’d best go take a shower now.
Not that you can hear me.

MATTHIAS: Ohhhhh, I’m thinking this was a bad idea. A really, really bad idea!
ABBOTT (unsympathetically): A little late for that, isn’t it?
MATTHIAS: I didn’t know it would hurt! Nobody said anything about it hurting!
ABBOTT: Painless childbirth only exists in video games. Suck it up – be a man!
TYRONE (anxiously): Can I do anything?

ABBOTT: You’ve done enough already, haven’t you?
MATTHIAS (ignoring him): Here, you can hold Charlotte for a minute.
TYRONE: Sure, but how does that he– ?
MATTHIAS: eeeeAAAAUGH! (softly, like a mantra) No, no – be a man, be a man…

MATTHIAS: And here’s Dante!
BARTHOLOMEW: If that’s Dante, shouldn’t the girl be Beatrice?
TYRONE: Beatrice died young, right? That’s not a good omen.
MATTHIAS: Charlotte Miller sounds better than Beatrice Miller. – Who’s Daddy’s little
boy, huh? You are!
ABBOTT (sharply): What do you mean, “Charlotte Miller,” Matt? Shouldn’t it be
“Charlotte Wizenfurger”?
TYRONE: Wow, gee, I bet you’d like a bottle, wouldn’t you Charlotte? Why don’t we go
get you one? (flees)
ABBOTT: Matt, what do you mean, “Charlotte Miller?”
MATTHIAS: Golly, Abbott, childbirth really takes it out of you! And Dante here needs a
bottle too, so I better go get him one before I fall asleep on my feet.
ABBOTT: Bart, take Dante and give him a bottle. Matt, tell me exactly what you mean
by “Charlotte Miller.”

ABBOTT: Okay, Mister Do-I-Get-My-Own-Room, this is it! You have been nothing but
a pain in the keister since you moved in here, and now you’ve corrupted one of my best
young men!
TYRONE: I corrupted – ?
ABBOTT: Yes, you did! Don’t try and deny it! And I’m going to do to you just exactly
what I did to that little strumpet that used to live in the guest bedroom!
BARTHOLOMEW: Shonda?
MATTHIAS: What do you mean, “used to live”?
ABBOTT: I excommunicated her! That’s right! She can no longer come back here! In
fact, she has to stay at least a mile away at all times, or else the Curse of the Ancients will
befall her!
MATTHIAS: You can’t excommunicate her – we’re not monks. We’re not even
Catholic.
BARTHOLOMEW: There’s no such thing as the Curse of the Ancients.
TYRONE: You’re throwing me out?
ABBOTT: I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT! (coughs, clutches at his chest) I have had
enough of your (cough, gasp, wheeze) your idiocy and I am (wheeze) I am (staggers)

ABBOTT: Hey! What do you think you’re doing? That is not mine!
GRIM REAPER: .e. i. i..
ABBOTT: No it isn’t. Mine’s got lots of sand left. Come on, give it back.
GRIM REAPER: .o. It.. .im. .o g., .r. De..rte.
ABBOTT: It is not! I don’t want to leave! This is my home, frammit!

GRIM REAPER: ..en yo. .no. .ow o…r .eop.. .ee., do… .ou? G.. .ovi...
(silence, filled with much rapid cogitation)
MATTHIAS: I guess that means you’re in charge now, Bart.
BARTHOLOMEW (flabbergasted): Me?
MATTHIAS: Well, you’re the only actual Brother we’ve got.
BARTHOLOMEW: But I was going to – uh, to –
TYRONE: If you’re in charge, Bart, do I have to move out?
BARTHOLOMEW: Uh –
TYRONE: Look, I know we broke the rules, but it’s just a piece of paper. It’s not like
we’re neglecting our duties.
MATTHIAS: Any more than we were before.

TYRONE: Thank you, Matt, that was very helpful. Bart, if you’re in charge, then the
Brotherhood won’t send another – what was Abbott’s actual title?
BARTHOLOMEW: I don’t remember.
TYRONE: They won’t send another Abbott. And I’ve had a look at the rules, and he was
actually pretty liberal. Shonda was allowed to stay here after college, Matt and I were
allowed to date frequently, Matt was allowed to drink the goop even though he wasn’t
actually part of a breeding program –
MATTHIAS (shamefacedly): No I wasn’t.
TYRONE: What?
MATTHIAS: I wasn’t actually allowed to drink the goop. I just wanted us to be a real
family so badly…
BARTHOLOMEW: Okay, okay, we’d none of us hold up under investigation.
MATTHIAS: None of us? What’d you do, Bart?
BARTHOLOMEW: Neveryoumind. If I’m in charge, it’s all okay and nobody will get in
trouble. It’s all okay. But Shonda didn’t really leave, did she?

Yes, she really did. And Curse of the Ancients or no Curse of the Ancients, after what
Abbott said to her, she wasn’t about to come back either.
Shonda has been taken out of the main rotation and may or may not undertake a Who’s
Your Daddy? Challenge. If she does, it will be posted on Boolprop. But she may not
because of the potential for ‘hood splodieness. </what may or may not be shameless self-
promotion>
MATTHIAS (V.O.): Ty, what does “strumpet” mean?

Did I mention that Eileen Tang has headed off to college? No?
Eileen Tang has headed off to college.

And her parents have become Elders. First Cal…

…then Elle.
First interesting thing either of ‘em’s done in three months. Real time.
And if Cal’s an Elder, then you know who has to be an elder as well…

…Jasper. (And Jasmine.)
JASPER: So, am I forgiven?
JASMINE: I’m considering it.
JASPER: The plot with the viral toothbrush earworm worked really well…
JASMINE: Yes, it did. Now we can afford to rewire the entire house, replace the lead
piping, have the septic tank pumped, and insulate the attic.
JASPER: And is there any over?
JASMINE: If you want another sports car, Jasper, you need to give me another set of
twin girls.
Said twin girls are now busy preparing for college.

LUCY: So, Ricky.
RICKY: Huh?
LUCY: I want to Go To College. And I want to Grow Up Well, too. Right now, I’m in
the low green, with no readily fulfillable Wants and not much time left. I need a date.
RICKY: Huh? Oh yeah, a date. Good idea.
LUCY: And you’re handy, so you and me are going to go on a date, okay? And when I’m
in gold or platinum, you’re going to go on a date with my sister, to get her level up too,
and then we’re going to go to college and forget all about you. Sound good?
RICKY: Uh, what’s in it for me?
LUCY: I won’t tell my mom where your eyes have been during this conversation.
RICKY: Right! Sounds good!

LUCY: Okay, Anne. Ricky’s all ready for you.
ANNE: Oh, no thanks, Lucy. I’m okay.
LUCY: But don’t you want to Grow Up Well?
ANNE: Yes, but it isn’t really fair to do something like that to Ricky. Even if he is
smarmy. Or maybe a skank. I can’t decide. Do you think he looks a little like a lizard? I
mean, I actually like lizards, but I don’t like Ricky much. Anyway, I just had a nice
bubble bath and we’re having a nice chat, so if you just give me a goodnight hug, I think
I’ll be okay to grow up. But tell Ricky thank you for thinking of me. I’m going to go to
bed early because the taxi’s coming at five in the morning, and that’s really just too early.
Okay?
LUCY: If you’re sure. I’ll just go show the smarmy skank the door. (hugs Anne) Don’t
eat your cucumber eye masks in your sleep again.

And in the morning…
JASPER: Now that the girls are gone, we’ve got the whole place to ourselves.
JASMINE: Mm-hmm.
JASPER: We’ve never had the whole place to ourselves, have we? Not in college, not at
your parents…
JASMINE (muffled): Why are you still talking?
LUCY: Ew! Mom! Dad! Can’t you wait until we’re not in the room?
JASMINE: You’re still here? Go, go, go already. The taxi’s honking.

LUCY: How come you always get shotgun?
ANNE: Oh, I have to sit here. If I don’t sit here, then I can’t see the whole road. And if I can’t see the
whole road, how do I know if we’re going to fall into a sinkhole or something? We might be going to – you
see it on the news and everything. But if I sit in the front seat, then I can see it coming, and I can…
(car pulls out of sight)
Since I consider three people in college to be worthy of a college chapter, you can bet that a whopping six
Sims in college will get a college chapter. Possibly even two, since Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenges
usually start in college, don’t they? Although that would be another spin-off, so it would have its own
thread over on Boolprop. Like I said already. No worries, though: I’ll put links to any and all related stories
in the main thread.
I will see you somewhere or other in the forums very soon. Until then – Happy Simming!
************
PS: Here are Death’s lines, in order:
Are you ready to go, Mr. Miller?
Right this way, Mr. Miller. Watch your step.
Prrrrooo, prrrrrow rrrrrrrm.*
Yes it is.
No. It’s time to go, Mr. Delarte.
Then you know how other people feel, don’t you? Get moving.
*(Alas, I still do not speak Cat.)

Already in Progress, Chapter 25

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Already in Progress, Chapter 25