happy birthday to you...

September 2083 - Welcome to Lakeside Heights: Ian, Ingrid, Jacob, Catherine, and Rebecca.

It was a rainy day, early this September, two weeks shy of her due date and not even the slightest warning when the Thompson twins decided to make their sudden appearance. Adam was just about to help Heather down the stairs when her water broke there at the landing. Adam is a mathematician, and he didn't really take many health classes in college, and it's been four years since Laney was born, so he's not really sure if he remembers this all very well.

Regardless though, these babies are coming!

so lucky

February 2083 - Paul Gallagher is 32, Charlotte is 28. (Leila Watts is 27. Roland Ellis is 32, Marisa (Wilson) Ellis is 28.) Last update, September 2080.

They've been married two and a half years now, but they're still newlyweds in any way that counts. They can still spend long mornings, cozy and cuddly in bed. Their life is full of sleep because it can be, burrowed warm under the covers on these chilly February mornings, his face buried in her hair, still smelling of the pastries she made at work the night before.

They're enjoying this while they can because she's pregnant. Her parents will be elated when they find out, but they still haven't told anyone yet. It's only just starting to feel real now at eight weeks, and little baby Gallagher is due in September.

prequel stories #4: the cutest couples never meant to be

Okay, so some of these ended up being much sadder than I'd anticipated. I should have anticipated it. It's about heartbreak, duh! ;) But some of them are happy as well, since you're not only seeing the endings, but in some cases, the beginnings of the relationships that were meant to work out.

These stories are a little more current, a lot of them taking place just before I started blogging about the neighborhood, and even overlapping with some of the early stories.

The cutest couples never meant to be, countdown style...

handsome Paul

January 2082 - Orlando Centowski is 66, Audrey is 65. Last update, December 2079.

Audrey and Orlando are hard at work this winter, filling orders for portraits and making pottery. This portrait is a gift to Charlotte and Paul for their wedding last year. It's taken Orlando this long to get around to it though, as he just didn't know how he would manage to paint his own daughter's quite ample chest! Perhaps Charlotte might have chosen a little more coverage on her wedding dress?

here comes the bride?

September 2080 - Paul Gallagher is 30, Charlotte (Centowski) Gallagher is 26.

Whether or not Charlotte Centowski actually makes it down the aisle this month is anyone's guess. Marisa made the trip back into town this week to be her maid of honor.

"Don't make that face," Marisa says. "It looks beautiful."

"I don't know," Charlotte says. "Something's not right."

"Well, if you would stand up straight, it might look better."

"What color did I tell you, for your dress?"

"Pink," Marisa says.

"I said pink? Why on earth would I say pink?"

"That's what you said, so that's what I bought!"

save the world, save a wedding

April 2080 - Matthew Watts is 29, Leila is 24, Felicity is 18 months, pet dog is Skip.

It's April now, and finally warm enough that Leila and Felicity can play outside while Matthew finishes planting the spring crop. Felicity is eighteen months old now, and just perfecting those baby steps.

how it's done

March 2080 - Maxwell Shaw is 33, Valerie is 38, Angelo is 9, Devon is 3. (Nina Shaw-Gothier and Benjamin Gothier are 63.)

Angelo knows his dad owns a nightclub, but he has a feeling that isn't all there is to it. Angelo says, "That's funny, Dad, you're not really a bank robber."

"Sure, kid," Maxwell says. Angelo is too young to know what his father really does for a living anyway. Best to joke about it now, while he's young, so that it's less of a blow by the time he's older. Heck, he might even figure it all out on his own, if he's a smart kid. And Angelo is working on figuring things out.

many good years

December 2079 - Orlando Centowski is 64, Audrey is 63.

Orlando and Audrey still have many good years left in them. But something they have to start thinking about is the eventual passing on of their art shop. Centowski Custom Artworks is ranked #4 now, and building a solid customer base.

Their children have always been artistically-inclined, but as far as they know, neither of them ever took an interest in the visual or sculpting arts - Charlotte was always into cooking, and Luke was always into music and dance. It's kind of old-fashioned to think that your children will want to carry on the family business anyway. Maybe they'll find an independent buyer instead.

Orlando is trying to read the reviewer's mind. She looks pleased, but they never hear anything concrete from her. And somebody needs to remind the Nathan and Allegra Lind, and Jackson and Nessa Phoenix to come pick up their wedding portraits!!! They ordered those portraits ages ago!

the lofts, big fat chances

August 2079 - Paul Gallagher is 29, Cameron Gibson is 28, Charlotte Centowski is 25, Amelia Bradshaw is 24, Bella Bradshaw and Jeremiah Day are 23.

Bella and Amelia are actually getting along here in the lofts together. They're becoming almost something like friends. They never imagined the day would come, when Alon Hutchins had become inconsequential to them both, and long forgotten. We suppose that's part of growing up.

LCU, the end of an era

LCU, spring semester, 2079

LONG post! Take a potty break if you need one! :)

At the start of spring semester, the most pressing matter for Bella and Mariah is to win a dance competition. James was there to root for Mariah.

(Joel and Aurora Harris were there, on their first date night since baby Zachary was born, watching at first, but then they got bored and decide to flirt with each other instead.)

the lofts, apartment life makeover!

I am in the process of updating all of my multi-family lots to real apartments. So while I take a little break from my normal story-playing, I thought I'd share with you my apartment remodeling adventures :)

First up are the Rondal Lofts. Charlotte and Amelia will be roommates, and Cameron will have his own place.

Charlotte finds out that they have to cough up one whole week's worth of rent at a time. She says, "What? That's like a seven-year lease? Are you serious?" It's crazy, but he's serious, Charlotte, just sign the papers already!

the lofts, farewell marisa!

August 2078 - Cameron Gibson is 27, Marisa Wilson and Charlotte Centowski are 24, Amelia Bradshaw is 23.

Charlotte Centowski and Marisa Wilson have been best friends since they were five, and Charlotte doesn't know what she'll do without her. Marisa received an offer to dance in Abandia City, and she just can't pass it up. She's leaving at the end of the month.

LCU, everything she touches

LCU, spring semester, 2078

Jason called Bella to say he was coming over. He was dropping off some stuff, making it official that things were over between them. Not only had she flat out rejected his proposal last spring, but she never even called him back. He was so sure things were over, in fact, that he came from the gym and was still wearing his workout gear.

But I guess they weren't quite finished after all? Because there were no declarations of over-ness, and he didn't actually drop off anything.

LCU, at the end of things

LCU, fall semester, 2077

Go ahead and grab yourself a cup of coffee or something... this one is LONG! :)

Amelia moved in with Alon and Piper after coming home from Takemizu Academy last semester. It was just something they all assumed she and Alon would do, but now she's beginning to question whether that was a good idea or not.

Amelia's flight got in really late and he was tired. Sure, he was happy to see her, but just tired. Really tired. And he had work in the morning. She tried to show him some bow thing she learned and he just didn't get it.

waiting on whatever comes next

May 2077, Orlando Centowski is 62, Audrey is 61, Luke is 18. (Mariah Riley is 18.)

Luke's mom is acting weird lately. He is her last baby to leave home, and supposedly that's a pretty big deal for a mom. She often stops him and says, "Wait, right there, I want to remember you like this." His parents have always been kind of weird though.

the lofts, moving in with bad luck in tow

May 2077, Cody Bradshaw is 58, Kendal Bradshaw is 56, Cameron Gibson is 26, Marisa Wilson is 23, Charlotte Centowski is 23.

(Emergency update! This household was already played this round, and I was just moving Charlotte in after graduation, not even five minutes and all hell breaks loose! I swear bad luck must follow this girl wherever she goes.)

What you see here is wrong on so many levels, and let me try to explain how. This is Bryson Riley (Cody's brother-in-law, married to Cody's sister Madison), getting pretty darn chummy with Autumn Bradshaw (Cody's ex-wife), with Cody in plain view!!! You just don't get more drama than that!!!

LCU, unattainable

LCU, spring semester, 2077

Jason calls and says he wants to take Bella to Lost in Love Hedge Maze. She should have known something was fishy. He knows she's not the lovey-dovey type.

Jason says, "I think we'd be really good together."

Bella says, "Um, what are you doing?" He doesn't even get as far as to ask the question.

the lofts, even the walls are staring

March 2077, Cody Bradshaw is 58, Kendal Bradshaw is 56, Cameron Gibson is 26, Marisa Wilson is 23.

Marisa, Roland, Charlotte and Cameron are all out one night at the Lulu Lounge, getting their drink on, chilling to some music. Charlotte's been going on and on about Heather - the newly married Mrs. Heather Thompson. Marisa's been hearing a lot about Heather lately, and it doesn't take a genius to see that Charlotte is SO not over Adam, still.

something like closure

November 2076, Adam Thompson and Heather (Hurt) Thompson are 24.

Adam and Heather move into a home on Brant Street, just a couple houses down from Nathan and Allegra. Though they graduated in the same class as Allegra, they never managed to become friends with her. They were shy, and didn't have many friends. She was shy and didn't have many friends. Who knows... maybe they'll bump into her one of these days.

LCU, only have eyes for...

LCU, fall semester, 2076

There could have been a problem back in August, when there's only one ultra-posh residence hall on campus, and two rich cousins who hate each other who want to live there. Bella says, "Are you still not over that? That was like three years ago!"

The way Amelia sees it, Alon made a mistake - after all, she was Bella Bradshaw doing whatever she did to men, so it was almost expected. But Bella, her cousin, who she grew up with like a sister, had committed an unforgivable sin. Needless to say, Amelia holds one hell of a grudge.