Timothy has developed feelings for his long-time friend Sarah Jane. When Ryan bets Timothy $20 that he won't kiss Sarah Jane, she encourages Timothy to accept for their college fund. They share a kiss. Emmy and Jon celebrate their anniversary with a romantic dinner and dancing, rekindling their love. Later, Emmy passes away peacefully with her family by her side. Tyrone graduates college and moves back home, still seeking love. He remains unsure of his romantic preferences. However, an unexpected encounter may help him find love in an unexpected place.

1. Hello hello, and welcome back to Already in Progress! Just in time for Valentine’s Day,
we have a chapter all about the romantic trials and tribulations of our favorite Sims! (And
obviously, I am using the royal “we” here, as I am sure you like your own Sims much
better than you like mine.) And I may be engaging in a bit of hyperbole when I say “all.”
I tend to do that. (clears throat) Anyway, let’s rejoin our story now… Already in
Progress…

2. Tyrone has stopped being unreasonable long enough to make a few friends at college.
Carmen Baity, for one, is always up for a game of chess. She has a distinct tendency to
disappear, though, so when Tyrone needs an immediate fun lift, he often turns to his other
best friend at college.

3. Brian Wood has the dorm room right next to Tyrone, and since he tends to be home and
low on fun at the same time as Tyrone, they’ve become friends too, albeit rather slowly.
This pillow fight was what tipped them over into Best Friend status, and it took three
years to get there.

4. Tyrone’s even made friends with the cafeteria lady, Catelina. (Unsuitable by reason of
being old and cranky.)
CATELINA: So, what is wrong with you, Mister Tyrone, mmm?
TYRONE: Huh?
CATELINA: All the time, you say to me “Catelina, when are you going to make
spaghetti?” “Catelina, no spaghetti tonight?” “Catelina, have I told you how much I like
spaghetti?” So tonight, I make for you spaghetti. And what do you eat?
TYRONE: Er, mac and cheese?
CATELINA: Da, mac and cheese you eat. Next time, I do not make for you spaghetti.

5. As promised last time, Amy is heading off to college. We’ll see more of her later.
Apparently, her family isn’t too worried about a lack-of-Amy. Ryan’s the only one who
came to see her off.
RYAN (cheerfully): Bye, Amy! I’ll miss you!

6. And Ryan, well… He may have lots of neat points, but you’d never know it by his
favorite pastime. He can spend hours doing this.

7. Timmy has grown up, and is now the same age as Sarah Jane. (And a Knowledge Sim,
for those of you playing along at home.)
TIMOTHY: So, uh, thank you for coming to my party.
SARAH JANE: Oh, you’re welcome, Timmy. I don’t know why you think I wouldn’t be
here. You’re one of my best friends!
TIMOTHY: One of them?
SARAH JANE: Yes, one of the oldest ones, too. Oh, hi, Mr. Sanders.
Whatever reaction Timmy was hoping for, it wasn’t that.

8. But then, only a few days later, Sarah Jane does this all on her own. Swoopy harp sound
effects promptly follow. Timmy is happy.

9. RYAN: I saw you holding hands earlier.
TIMOTHY: Butt out, twerp.
BYRON (automatically): Don’t call your brother a twerp.
RYAN: But I saw you. Does that mean you’re Sarah Jane’s boyfriend now?
TIMOTHY: I, ah, er – that’s up to her.
RYAN: Well, if you’re her boyfriend, why don’t you kiss her? I bet you’re not really her
boyfriend. I bet you won’t kiss her. Hah – I bet you twenty dollars.
TIMOTHY (through gritted teeth): If Uncle Byron weren’t here I’d pound you one!
SARAH JANE: Gee, Timmy, twenty dollars is a lot of money.

10. TIMOTHY: What – ?
SARAH JANE: With twenty dollars, we could go see the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet movie
out at the multiplex. And I don’t mind. Come on.
Timmy is very happy.
(All the old folks are doing just great, by the way.)

11. Bertie and Cassie have adopted a dog, Reuben, largely to keep Cassie busy while Bertie
is at school. Reuben is one smart puppy, and he learned to shake in no time.

12. Bertie is a Teen now, and he’s a Romance Sim, albeit a very easy-going one. His main
wants are Ask Sim on Date and Have Very First Kiss. Classmate and fellow Romance
Sim Sheila Bear is only too happy to help him with the first one.

13. Although that second one didn’t seem to be in the cards.
SHEILA: Excuse me? I don’t think so! My LTW may be Woohoo With 20 Different
Sims, but that doesn’t make me a skank!

14. David Ryan wasn’t so picky. Unfortunately, an end-of-date kiss does not necessarily help
with that First Kiss want.
Bertie’s LTW does not involve numbers, but maybe I’ll try for something with numbers
in it anyway. What do you think?

15. Cassie also spends a lot of time on the phone with her sister. There have been no more
abductions, despite Robi’s determined efforts.
ROSIE: You’d better hurry up with getting yourself abducted. Pretty soon you’ll be too
old to have an alien baby.
ROBI: I’m already doing everything I can! What do you want me to do, wear hot pants
and put up a neon sign saying “Hiya, spaceman. New in town?”
ROSIE (thoughtfully): That might actually work…
ROBI (disgusted): Fine. Then I’ll send them to you to discuss payment options. I want
fifty percent.
ROSIE: That’s higher than the standard cut.
ROBI: I am not even going to ask how you know that.

16. JON: Hey, Emmy, did you have any plans for the day?
EMMY: No, not until six or seven tonight. What did you have in mind?
JON: I was thinking that maybe we could take a little trip down Memory Lane.
EMMY: Memory Lane? Really? With all the work they’re doing on the water main
there?
JON: Okay, fine. I thought we could go out for dinner and dancing.

17. EMMY: Remember coming here on our first date? I was so worried about what I was
wearing that I wouldn’t even take off my coat.
JON: I remember. What was it I said then? Oh yes: “To the woman who gave me my
start – I’d be working fast food if it wasn’t for her.”
EMMY: Aw, Jon…
JON: And now I’d like to make a new toast: To the woman who has made me so very,
very happy each and every minute of each and every day of all the years since then. I
love you, Emmy.
EMMY: I love you too, Jon.

18. JON: I’m glad I was able to convince you that I wanted to be more than just friends.
EMMY: I took a lot of convincing, didn’t I?
JON: Mm-hmm.
EMMY (breathless): Jon, I think we should maybe…go home?
JON: Mm-hmm.

19. And go home they did.

20. Emmy put the rest of the day to good use, too.
SARAH JANE (pleadingly): Mom, you don’t have to do this, do you?
EMMY: Yes, I do, honey.
SARAH JANE: But there’s always elixir! Or community lots and vacation! You could
spend all your time on vacation with Dad, couldn’t you? Just travel around the world and
not come back?
EMMY: And how would that be any different?
SARAH JANE: I could talk to you on the phone!
EMMY: You can still talk to me, sweetie. I’m sure that wherever I end up, I’ll be able to
hear you.
SARAH JANE: But I don’t want you to go!
EMMY: And I’ll miss you both something awful. Some day you’ll understand.

21. SARAH JANE (wails): I don’t want to understand!
EMMY: You packed for me?
GRIM REAPER: ..s, an. I go. .ou a n… dri.. ..r th. …d.
EMMY: Is it a long road?
GRIM REAPER: I thi.. .ver..ne de…ves a ni.. dri.. ..r th. …d ev.. .f it ..n’t.

22. Emmy (Scott) Littledragon, 68 years old. Emmy had a crush on Jon almost from the
moment she saw him, but thanks to a horrible stepfather, she had difficulty believing that
her feelings could ever be reciprocated. (It didn’t help that Jon initially dated a woman
cut from the same cloth as Emmy’s stepfather.) Emmy and Jon lived a quiet life filled
with gardening, the cat, and their daughter Sarah Jane – perhaps not the life of a Space
Pirate that Emmy always secretly wished for, but a much happier life than she had
expected growing up. Emmy always considered herself lucky beyond all deserving, but I
think that there she was wrong: she deserved every minute.
Goodbye, Emmy.

23. Amy has come to college, as we saw, and she’s fitting right in. Of course she spends time
with her cousin Tyrone. Heck, she’s not one to pass up a dance with anybody!

24. She also is busy making female friends. Home was just a wee bit heavy on the
testosterone, you have to admit that. It’s nice to have someone to talk about dresses with.
(Amy has never really forgiven Aunt Caryl for attempting to hug her when she first
arrived at the house.)

25. Tyrone finally rolled up a specific Flirt want: Flirt With Brian. However, since they’re
Best Friends, it would be automatic Love. While Brian enjoys hanging out with Tyrone, I
have my doubts as to his preferences, and I promised myself that I wouldn’t force
anything with Tyrone. So I had him do one of those interactions that shows up under the
“Ask…” menu.
TYRONE: So, Brian, what do you want right now? I mean, if you could have anything.
BRIAN: Could you put in a good word for me with your cousin? I’d really like to be
friends with her.
TYRONE: Friends?
BRIAN: Well, at least to start. You don’t mind, do you?
(Please forgive the sky. No Apartment Life = no ceilings, and the no-sky shot I have of
this same interaction doesn’t have the same feel.)

26. TYRONE: No, that’s okay. I don’t mind.
TYRONE: I don’t mind a bit.
Despite the named Want, I’m still not sure Tyrone’s actually settled down to a
preference. I swear I’ve seen him cue up Flirt interactions with women that timed out
because they were busy doing something else. There may have been some of those with
men as well, of course. Tyrone’s just got a knack for finding the unavailable.

27. So Tyrone graduated college and moved back home. He had missed out on his named
want, he’d never been able to connect with the attractive ladies, and he was becoming
used to thinking of himself as a permanent loser at the game of Love. There was no one
out there for him, and there never would be, and he might as well just accept the fact. But
(as they always teach you not to write because it’s such a cliché) had he but known…
Duuuuuuh dun…

28. …duuuuuuuh dun…
MATTHIAS: That’s my toaster pastry.
SHONDA: No it isn’t. It’s mine. That one’s yours.
MATTHIAS: This is my replacement toaster pastry that I had to make after you stole my
original toaster pastry, which is currently in front of you. Why are you walking around in
your underwear and stealing other people’s toaster pastries?
SHONDA: Well, it’s mine now. I spat on it. And, brother dear, I am walking around in
my underwear and stealing other people’s toaster pastries because I live with my brother.
In the spare bedroom. In a monastery. (shrugs) I have to get my excitement in somehow.

29. Robin’s children have grown up a bit more, apparently with no ill effects from all the
pesticide exposure.
Mifune has the long hair. Cillian has the short hair.

30. Gerard has the weedy little goatee-and-mustache combination. It actually works on him.
Unsurprisingly, he is Fortune. (“Unsurprisingly” because I pick aspirations myself.)
Yvette has definitely had a moderating influence on the genes of this family.

31. Meanwhile, at the Sanders-Shankel household…
VALERIE: Aren, sweetie?
AREN: Yo?
VALERIE: Please don’t ever cook anything again. I’m sure that nice Mr. Lawson is
getting tired of coming over to put out your lunch every day.
AREN: I’m not that bad, yo.
VALERIE and MITCH LAWSON (together): Yes, you are.

32. Despite his failings in the kitchen, Aren is still a good parent. Ruth is always ready to
drop everything and run to meet him when he gets home.
Ruth is doing well too, making good grades in school and such.

33. Although she does seem to have picked up one or two, shall we say, questionable
practices.

34. As you can see, her cousin Simon is a happy little boy, very affectionate despite the low
number on the bottom-most personality meter.

35. In that, he is not unlike his mother.
KITTY: So? What d’you say?
MIRCEA (laughing): But the car pool will be here any minute!
KITTY: Not any minute. We’ve got half an hour.
MIRCEA: Isn’t that kind of rushed?
KITTY: I don’t mind rushed. Rushed is good every once in a while.

36. Oh, great. Another boy, I have no doubt. (innocently) Maybe you were a little too rushed?
KITTY: Maybe you were a little too quick with on the “Try For Baby” option. Have you
forgotten that both the Sanders and the Curious families are extremely fertile?
Jean wasn’t. Unless it was Polluxa’s fault. And anyway, you’re not really a Sanders.
KITTY: Tell that to the rebuild. Oh, and I’m holding you to that double-rations thing, by
the way.
Er, “double rations”?
KITTY: In the little “Family Info” box in the Neighborhood screen. I quote: “Real live
baby = double rations. Real live ALIEN baby = build one complete room of your
choice!”
I wrote that before Simon was born!
KITTY: And you haven’t deleted it. I expect four pieces of foundation when the baby
comes, and four walls, and four squares of floor covering, and –
(grumpily) You’ll get it.
KITTY: Thanks. (smiles prettily) And I’ll make sure Mircea stargazes all night for the
next three nights, just for you.
You’re all heart, you are.

37. Have I mentioned that Eileen Tang is a child now? No?
Eileen Tang is a child now.

38. Now, at this point, I should be telling you how Andrew, Opal, Amy, and Perry are doing,
with a mention of Harkon in there for good measure. I’m not going to.
Brace yourself for gratuitous toddlerspam.

39. Harkon and Da, playing airplane.

40. Harkon and Mommy, right after she finished teaching him to talk.

41. Harkon dancing to the radio.
Harkon is adorable.
That is all. [/gratuitous toddlerspam]

42. Amy considered staying in the dorms after Tyrone left. There are lots of people to be
friends with in the dorms, and she already was friends with some of them. Then she met
Tyrone’s replacement.
AMY: Hi, I’m Amy. You must be the new guy. Where are you from?
ZAITRARRIO BRANSFIELD: (in a terrible, shifting, vaguely Continental accent):
‘Allo. I am Zaitrarrio Bransfield. I am, how you say, exchange student.
AMY: That’s great! From where?
ZAITRARRIO BRANSFIELD: Vot do you think of zees trrrrousers? They show off my,
how you say, bottom verrrra nicely, no? Shall we have lots of babbies now?

43. So Amy decided to move out and start her own Greek House.
It’s a plain old sorority, Urele Var. Official colors are black and red, and the house is
severely bare-bonesed because that’s the only way I can ever afford a property big
enough to be Greek House. Plus working on a place while living in it is fun and keeps
college interesting.
The dorm isn’t anywhere near done, but it will have to wait until I get more than one
student at a time living there. The tubs I want are expensive.

44. CARYL: Ty! You’re back! I wasn’t expecting you home so early!
TYRONE: I caught an earlier train.
CARYL: Well, I hope you have a good answer for your dad. You know the first question
out of his mouth is going to be “When can I expect grandchildren?”
TYRONE: That’s…complicated.
CARYL: You don’t have to explain to me. Come on in and have breakfast.

45. TYRONE: Hi, Ryan. Can I sit with you?
RYAN: (shrugs) Sure, I guess. Who are you?
TYRONE: Who – ? I’m your brother. Your brother Tyrone.
RYAN: Oh. If you say so. (takes a big bite of pancake)
TYRONE: You don’t remember me?
RYAN: (shaking his head vigorously) Nnnn-mmm. (with his mouth full, while pointing)
Paff duh sywup, miffter?
…duuuuuuh dun duuuuuh dun…

46. …duuuh dun duuuh dun duuh dun duuh dun…
MATTHIAS: You don’t live in a monastery. We’re not monks.
SHONDA: Was Dad a member of the Brotherhood?
MATTHIAS: Yes.
SHONDA: And he lived with a bunch of other guys and no women ever unless they were
the daughter of one of the Brothers and anyone who got married was kicked out?
MATTHIAS: Yes.
SHONDA: And what did he say when people asked him what he did?
MATTHIAS: “Oh, I’m a monk.” (quickly) But that was his little joke. We are not a
monastic order.
SHONDA (exasperatedly): Matt, if it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck and it
quacks like a duck, it’s a framming duck.

47. JASPER: Mmmmff! (as Jasmine pulls away) Not that I’m complaining, but – what was
that for?
JASMINE: I got promoted! I’m a Cat Burglar now.
JASPER: Well! If that’s what happens when you get a promotion, what can I do to help
with your next one?

48. JASMINE (V.O.): Sorry. Building Body points is kind of a one-woman job. You can help
out by taking care of the kids, though.

49. So Jasper set to work on taking care of the girls. Anne doesn’t seem to be to keen on
learning to walk just at the moment, though.
ANNE: Dada!
Both girls love the Wobbly Wabbit Head, by the way, and are earning Charisma skill
points like champs!
It probably doesn’t hurt that they have a permaplat grandfather to provide endless bottles
of Smart Milk. And no other toys. At all.

50. Anne is very definitely a Littledragon. Even if the individual bits look more like her
mother, the whole package just screams “I AM A LITTLEDRAGON!” doesn’t it?

51. Lucy, on the other hand, looks much more like the Scott side of the family.
I thought it might help you to have close-ups of the girls. Even with the different
coloring, features, and personalities, I still have to color-code them to tell them apart. It’s
this weird mental block thing I’ve got going on. Anne is in pink. Lucy is in yellow.
(repeats over and over, softly) Anne is in pink. Lucy is in yellow. Anne is in pink. Lucy
is in yellow. Anne is in pink. Lucy is in yellow.

52. Once she started up the Greek House, Amy spent her time having parties. Of course.
What else does one do with a Greek House?
Despite his best efforts, Brian Wood never made it past Best Friend status. Amy actively
heartbarfs him. Nobody else she met ever received more than a “Meh,” so her romantic
activities were a bit more curtailed than she would have liked. Call me old-fashioned, but
I think that you need more than a “Meh” to woohoo someone.

53. Amy did have one highly persistent male admirer, but I think you will agree with me
when I say that this one absolutely should not go any further than friendship.

54. And so Amy grew up into reasonably okay clothing and left the Level 5 Urele Var
Sorority House in the very capable hands of Breanna Copur, moving back to Sandersville
for the next chapter in her life.
One with a bit more kissing and woohoo in it, if she has her way.

55. TYRONE (V.O.) (reflectively): Maybe if I get Ryan something, he’ll stop calling me
“Mister…”
…duhdunduhdunduhdunduhdun…
(This is where I’m leaving off, just in case you couldn’t tell.)

56. Remember I said I was salting the mines? Well, these two are the salt. They have the
same hair color, the same eye color, the same Zodiac sign, the same personality point
spread, the same skill points (to within one creativity point), the same badges (except
Matthias is slightly better at toymaking), the same turn-ons, and the same gender
preference. (I have given them different turn-offs. And the creativity point and toymaking
badge difference happened in-game.) In short, they are custom-made to be compatible
with Tyrone. He’s got to like one of them… hasn’t he?
Maybe not. They’re not unsuitable.
And if I may: I would just like to brag for a moment here. (clears throat) Matthias and
Shonda are twins who share the same custom content skin, made by yours truly. “But
wait!” (I hear you cry.) “Matthias and Shonda don’t have the same skin at all! He’s got
some sort of inferior modified alien skin and she’s got a shiny variation on the
mannequin skin.”
Ah, but they do! I have created a skin tone with sex-linked differentiation that expresses
upon transitioning to a Teen. Feel free to be impressed.
And even if you aren’t impressed, I’ll see you next time!
**************
The Grim Reaper’s lines, in order:
Yes, and I got you a nice drink for the road.
I think everyone deserves a nice drink for the road even if it isn’t.