Chapter 1 of my Sims 3 legacy. Just a short chapter to meet our founding couple, their first baby, and one of the family's special friends.

1. Arven Family Legacy Chapter 1: Ghosts and Fish

2. Our family’s story begins in Sunset Valley a newly settled area of Simland. The patriarch of our family tree was a man by the name of Christopher Steele. Christopher had come to the valley because life had become boring in his hometown. You could say Christopher was a very lucky sim and he was smart to boot. So life had become just too simple in the big city. So he’d loaded up his few belongings and set out with the other hopefuls to see what life would have in store for him in another part of the world.

3. Christopher’s favorite pastime was fishing and Sunset Valley offered plenty of opportunities to pursue his life’s biggest dream. He wanted to quite literally have an aquarium in his own home filled with at least 13 perfect examples of fish. Our family’s patriarch pursued this goal with tenacity.

4. Christopher began his hunt for the perfect fish in rather mundane locations such as newly opened parks, the many local beaches, or some of the local ponds. But when these locations didn’t prove to give up enough of the desired fish, our patriarch began to search in more interesting locales.

5. His favorite of his unusual haunts was an old graveyard. Now most of the newcomers steered well clear of the ancient graveyard, excluding the very scientific or adventurous, and our patriarch fell into both of the aforementioned categories. After all, he had secured a place in the colonial effort with his scientific skill set and very well known position as something of a daredevil. Several nights out of ever week found Christopher fishing in the graveyard’s pond, seemingly unaffected by the eerie location.

6. His frequent visits began to draw the attention of several very curious spirits who still haunted that region of the valley. One spirit seemed to take a particular interest in Christopher.

7. And so one evening during Christopher’s visits, he was approached by one of these ancient spirits. It was this unexpected meeting that changed his life forever.

8. To say that Sir Van was surprised when he first spoke with Mr. Steele would be quite an understatement. It wasn’t common for their kind to run into sims still capable of communicating with the deceased. It was an ability which was common in the original settlers of the land, yes, but Christopher was not from Cas. He was a townie from the heartland of all things! Imagine a townie being able to speak with the supernatural! It was almost unheard of! A truly rare gift indeed.

9. “ My dear boy, you really should consider getting out more!” the specter encouraged. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy good company, but you shouldn’t waste all your waking hours chasing after fish. I can certainly think of at least one thing a young man ought be hunting for at the prime of his life and it doesn’t live in the water.” Christopher was taken by surprise as well, but he actually found the idea of talking to a ghost quite interesting. He unfortunately did not catch the drift and instead of looking for a nice girl to settle down with, Christopher continued to live his life as he had for the past six months, though now he most certainly visited the graveyard nightly.

10. But the specter wasn’t about to let such an opportunity go to waste. If the townie wouldn’t go to the native, then he’d just bring one of the natives to the townie. Needless to say Sir Van was quite pleased with himself when Christopher and Cas native Penny hit it off. In fact, the other ghosts were left to listen to his boastful speeches for decades to come.

11. Christopher learned that Penny had been assigned to work in politics the day she had aged into a young adult. “So do you find your work rewarding?” Penny smiled, “I enjoy working with people and politics does allow me to do that. But I will admit that gardening is truly my passion.

12. Penny and Christopher found that they shared a love for outdoor activities and even found other shared interests such as touring the local theater.

13. It wasn’t long at all before the two were an item around town. Penny’s personable nature made her something of a celebrity amongst not only the natives, but to the newcomers as well. Both groups usually found the idea of Penny and Christopher slightly ridiculous at first, but upon seeing the happy couple quickly changed their tune.

14. Okay so maybe you did need to overlook a few oddities, such as the fact the couple got engaged in a graveyard, but Christopher and Penny Arven were truly a match made in heaven.

15. I am aware there are rumors that our family’s founding couple got married in the cemetery, but that’s just nonsense. The two were married in a private ceremony in Penny’s small garden. Neither was very wealthy and both were rather fiscally minded and so pooled their resources toward adding onto Penny’s small home

16. Penny sighed as she sunk into her new bed. “Mm, I think if fell asleep in this bed right now I might never get up again.” Chris drew his lips into a thin line. “City hall might take issue with that. And so would I.” Penny giggled, “You’re terrible!”

17. The newlyweds soon fell into a set of routines. Chris proved to be a natural cook which suited Penny just fine. Penny had always hated cooking her own meals and was more than happy to let Christopher take over full time. And Chris was more than happy to let neat freak Penny do the cleaning.

18. The couple also quickly began to discover each other’s little quirks. It didn’t take long for Chris to discover his wife was extremely modest and self-conscious. So much so that she would not even bathe without her bathing suit. Seeing her in the shower each morning never failed to put a huge grin on his face.

19. While Penny was obsessive with her appearance, Christopher was obsessed with reading books. It diddn’t matter what kind of book it was, Chris would devour it within a day. If he wasn’t fishing or cooking, you could find him curled up on the couch with a book.

20. While Chris worked at the science lab

21. Penny got in a dance and some gardening each morning.

22. Then often worked late into the night at city hall.

23. And Christopher spent his late nights at the cemetery with his special friend. “ I say Christopher, you haven’t managed to get Penny pregnant yet? Well my boy, I must say I was expecting you to have a son on the way by this point. Now I owe Gunther a week of silence! A week!” Christopher found himself lost for words not sure how to respond to the ghost’s statement without insulting him.

24. However, the Arven’s special friend got out of his vow of silence a day early when Penny turned out to be expecting the family’s first child. Penny wanted a boy, but even when she pushed, Christopher seemed to have no preference in gender.

25. The family aquarium was opened soon after the announcement of the family’s impending new arrival hit the papers. Christopher proudly displayed his first perfect catch, a goldfish named Goldie, to any and everyone who came to the Arven’s front door.

26. Penny was given personal leave from her duties to properly rear her first born child. Pregnancy proved to treat her quite nicely and didn’t seem to slow her down too greatly. She rather enjoyed having the time each day in her beloved garden. “Do you think those tomatoes are alright Chris?” Christopher smiled ruefully. He knew his wife longed to become the best gardener the town had ever seen, and that her job made it difficult to find the time or energy to devote to it. “They look great. And if I may say so, I think they’re going to bring in quite a profit this time.” “ Oh that’s wonderful!’

27. Penny insisted on knowing before the baby was born what to expect so that she could decorate the nursery accordingly. She was thrilled to learn she was going to be having a little boy! Chris was happy as well, but he would have been just as happy had he learned his first child was going to be a girl.

28. And before anyone knew it, Penny and Christopher brought their new son home from the hospital. Penny blew bubbles out of her mouth as she bounced the baby in the air. “Welcome home Bill!” She gave her son a light kiss on the forehead and then gently lay him down into his crib.

29. Meanwhile back at the hospital an oddly dressed man walked purposefully out into the streets. He touched a hand to his ear. “No sir. I didn’t find any Cas women here sir. Our source must have been misinformed. Yes, a complete waste of taxpayer money. I’m on my way back now.”

30. And that’s where I leave you this time. It took me a while to get adjusted, but I do admit that I’ve come to appreciate the Sims 3. I still adore my Sims 2 simmies, but the Arven family is proving to be a blast to play around with.