meet the Harris family

March 2076 - Tad and Tosha Harris are 66. Alana and Sheldon Fortney are 43, Melissa is 7. Joel Harris is 34, Aurora is 30.

The Harris family is a large one. None of them are very rich, but what they lack in money they make up for in love (a.k.a. pestering the heck out of each other by dropping by each other's houses at all hours of the day and night).

Tad and Tosha have been together since high school and their marriage started with a shotgun wedding, which would be their daughter Alana. They're just about as happily married as anyone, though Tad hates to admit his wife could probably stand to eat a little less pork chops.

As mentioned, their oldest child is Alana. Her husband Sheldon is a substitute teacher at Melissa's elementary school, and Alana is a hostess at Deppiesse's Lakefront Bistro. Neither of them were ever very career-driven. Their daughter Melissa is in the first grade.

They live in a modest two-bedroom ranch house in the Hazel Park neighborhood of Lakeside Heights, and actually live right across the street from Toby and April (Toby is the middle child), which makes it even easier for them to stop over at each other's houses.

Melissa doesn't mind though. She enjoys playing with her cousins often.

Melissa is a sweet and silly girl who makes friends easily, and likes to dig around in the dirt for bugs.

Joel is the youngest and lives with his new wife, Aurora, in the northern suburbs of Lake City. Aurora and Joel are newlyweds, but Aurora is far from new to the family. She and Joel have been dating on and off since high school. Funny enough, her parents (Meadow and Brady Lind) live in the neighboring condo to Tad and Tosha. You would think this would encourage Aurora and Joel to visit more often, but they don't really.

Tosha is a professor at LCU, and teaches Botany at Collins Hall. Tad is a retired Captain "Hero" of the Police Force. He now owns a little shop across the street from their condo, Finer Things, Rare Goods. They specialize in antiques and rarities that other Sims can't use or simply don't want.

Orion Deppiesse brings in a massive and noisy pinball game, which Tad had never seen before. "I'm hoping you might be able to take this thing off my hands before my wife kills me," Orion says.

"Don't you worry," Tad says, "We specialize in taking the crap that people's wives don't want!" And selling it back at grossly inflated profits, Tad thinks, but doesn't say.

Tad has always been young at heart, which helps with a family as big as his. It's not too cold outside yet for a backyard barbecue!

After dinner, Alana's husband, Sheldon checks out his new sister-in-law, which Aurora finds pretty tacky and downright disgusting. "Are you serious," she says, "My husband is standing right behind you!" Well, we never said they were classy...

Joel says, "Honey, there's a reason we moved to the city."