Welcome to Range Valley, population 324.
Make that population 323? In any case, David passed away the first night of this round.
David McKinley was a family sim with a LTW of having six grandchildren, which was never fulfilled. David leaves behind his wife, Kelly, and three children, Kate, Poppy and Jack.
Like a shark sensing blood in the water, local romance sim Ira Riley heads over to comfort the widow.
It doesn’t take Kelly long to grab for security, and invite Ira to move in. After all, he has been a townie for so long, it’s only fair to give the man the option of a real life.
Poppy takes the pain of losing her father and turns it into a determination to achieve. Poppy manages to max all seven skills, and becomes perma-plat as a result.
In an attempt to take care of her family, Kelly invites the headmaster over. She can’t realistically offer her children college, but at least the private school might help them in the future.
“This is wonderful food, Miss McKinley.”
“Oh, I’m not one of the McKinleys. They’re watching TV. I just came for the free food.”
“Ha, same.”
In any case, the McKinleys are accepted.
Well. That got out of hand.
“Mum? I can’t believe my eyes! Yellow is so your colour!”
Kelly makes an attempt to stay in touch with Kate, but there is no love behind it. Kate and David never got on terribly well, and without David, the relationship between the two women breaks down rapidly.
Ira has made himself at home, but is keeping an eye open for options. The plan was not to have a baby, and get himself tied to a much older woman with two teenagers. But cutting and running now didn’t seem like the best option. He liked Kelly. But he wanted to fall in love with 20 sims, and actually live his life.
Poppy’s next project becomes getting abducted by aliens. She knows aliens are pretty fond of Range Valley – enough residents were part alien, after all.
Case in point. Lachlan, who has gotten a hat from somewhere? I think I accidentally replaced a default, somewhere.
Ira, in his quest to fall in love with 20 sims, meets up with Liora, who just wants to woohoo with 20 sims. She is perfectly happy to go along with things. She and her husband, Ethan, have an open marriage, and as far as she knew, Ira was free to do what he wanted.
Another notch down.
David makes an appearance.
“Just wondering where Poppy went.”
What do you mean? She’s still here, isn’t she?
Oh, whoops. Missed that one. My fault.
“Ouch! Rough landing! Fascinating people, though.”
You okay?
“I’m better than okay. I’m inspired!”
Poppy and Jack befriend Samuel and Phoebe. There is a little bit of chemistry between Poppy and Samuel, but Poppy doesn’t really give him a second thought after he leaves the house.
In the early hours of the morning, Kelly gives birth to Ira’s child. A girl she names Kitty. Kitty Riley has her father’s blonde hair.
Kelly shows Kitty off to Ira, but he is less than enthused. He makes a few obligatory comments, and declines the offer to hold his daughter.
Kelly later makes another attempt to talk to Ira. But the writing is on the wall.
“So Ira’s going to leave, right?”
“Definitely. And mum’s going to have to raise Kitty on her own.”
Jack takes this to heart. He is a fortune sim, like his mum, and he decides to do what he can to make things easier. His paintings sell for a decent chunk of change, and he privately accepts that college will definitely not be an option for him.
Kelly cuts her hair, and doesn’t bother putting her dress back on after the pregnancy. The sweats are more comfortable, and at three days away from being an elder, she is pretty sure that her romance days are behind her. Time to focus on Kitty.
Ira makes his getaway that night. He is taking the bare minimum of his funds with him, and plans to put money aside each week for Kitty. He’s not a monster, he tells himself. But he’s not father material, either.
Kelly waits until the teenagers have gone to bed, and mourns for David. She loved him a great deal, and he saw the gentle side of her. He knew what she was really like. And now he is gone.
Inside, Jack wakes for Kitty’s feeding. It’s been a tough rotation for the McKinley family.
Ending stats:
Households: 10
Playable Sims: 37
CAS-Sims Available: 10
Community Lots: 12
*Owned: 11
*NPC: 1
Total Lots: 21
Business Districts: 1
University: 1
Downtown: No
SM: 9
Population: 333
Fires: 4
Burglars: 0
Uni Funds: 870,900
