As Cassius Marius of Ten Caesars discovers, sometimes a boy's gotta get advice from his mother, even if--maybe especially if--she's Squeaky Clean.

2. ! We left off, if you recollect, at this slide. Cassius had successfully wooed, but not WooHooed, De.
Because I did say it was a Ten Caesars/Squeaky Clean crossover, right? You think Cassius is
going to be permitted to WooHoo De and then drop her and move on? No way.
! This was not how I intended him to wind up. Frankly, I thought he was a little creep and fully
intended to make him get married and kiss his squeegie mop, plus invite all the former
contestants to the wedding so they could slap him silly. But De is such a nice simself. And he is so
nuts about her. I just cannot do it.

3. ! De: So, Cassius, was there anything you wanted to ask me?

4. ! Cassius: Um, uh, uh-hah. . .
! He's really stymied. He's a Romance Sim. I could change his aspiration, but would Cassius still
be Cassius if he weren't a Romance Sim? And besides, that seems to be what De's simself likes.
They have three bolts and changing his aspiration might save the relationship but kill the
chemistry. What's a boy to do?

5. ! Back at Chez Marius, the usual game of Red Hands is going on.

6. ! Only I do not know what has gotten into Flavius and my simself. They only have two bolts, no
matter what you do, but they have been acting more like it's at least three. It's embarrassing.
! "Giggle giggle! Oo, it's the phone! You'd better get it."
! "Ah, forget the phone."
! Since when doesn't Flavius care about the phone? My GOSH.
! "It's probably for you."
! "Oh, ok."

7. ! "Cassius? Oh, um, nothing, what were you doing? Excuse me--you actually wanted to speak to
your mother?"
! Yes, seriously, Cassius called and asked Flavius to put me on. Is he reverting to type? Flavius used
to be a big mama's boy, but Cassius? He must be having a nervous breakdown. The following is
the actual conversation.

8. ! "Cassius? You want to talk to me? Really? Well, ok. What about?”

9. ! Excuse me, Cassius, I just swallowed my gum--what were you saying about pink?

10. ! Flavius, writing in diary: I think De is going to make a fine addition to the family.

11. ! Sim Me: You want me to help you? But you know how it works in Squeaky Clean. I won't force
the pink on you, but you absolutely have to get married and not have affairs. You've read it. Now
don't worry; just put your head between your knees and you won't pass out, probably.
! Flavius, still writing in diary: And for some reason the Prof is looking especially good to me right about
now.

12. ! Flavius: Um, yeah, Cassius, this is your paterfamilias again. No, I'm afraid marriage is your only
option; she really insists on that. But listen--you have three bolts, switch you over to brown hair,
it'll probably be four, and 100/100 with De: you're going to pass that up? How lucky can a guy
get? C'mon! I know you're freaked out about it, but listen, and this goes nowhere, let me let you in
on a little trade secret about your mother.
! (And I'm sorry, but you’d have to read a later chapter of Squeaky Clean to find out what it is. You
can guess, though).
! Flavius: So you won't have to worry about that at all. Now, I have to hang up: we're, um, really
old people, you know!

13. ! Flavius: Cassius should be getting married pretty soon, right? Does that mean a party?
! Sim Me: Sigh. Ben is probably laughing his butt off at me somewhere right now.
! I'm sorry, but I've never seen my Simself have a want panel like that. It was sort of spooky.

14. ! De: Oh, la, la, I'm relaxing on Cassius' bed again! I won!
! Yes, yes, you did, but I put him to bed because he's tired, and I'm hoping he'll roll a different set of
fears.

15. ! Feel any better, Cassius?
! Cassius: Nope.
! Look at this! I'm actually sorry for the little monster!

16. ! Oh, man. I have to try to help Cassius, but it's going to be tough. Stick with me, and I'll walk you
through it step by step. It's not so scary that way, and I'm going to start by giving you something
you've wanted for days.

17. ! Cassius: A refrigerator! Wow!
! Yes, along with some pretty classic Romance wants, Cassius has been really tired of the buffet
and wanted a refrigerator. He's mean and hardheaded but not stupid, and I can't even blame him
for the meanness, because where did he inherit it from? My simself, partly; they're both Scorpios.

18. ! De: Um, Cassius, is there anything you want to ask me now?
!
! Look, I do know something that will cheer both of you up.

19. ! Yep, that's right, ask her on a date, which is one of the options for the Bachelor Challenge at this
point anyway, and naturally, she says yes.

20. ! Um, Cassius, that might not have been a good choice of topic. Or maybe he does know what he's
doing after all.
! ____
! De's Simself was recently romantically linked to Rhys Fitzhugh, who has not been at all nice to
her, but then, he never is.

21. ! The smootchy-face cheers Cassius up a lot, straight into platinum, and now he's terrified of
getting married but not of getting engaged, so let's sneak it in there when he's not looking.

22. ! Cassius: Listen, De, I am so terrified I am about to toss my cookies, but marry me anyway!

23. ! De: OOooo! Did Rhys propose? Did Spenser offer to make an honest woman of me? It's so shiny!
!
! Cassius: The WooHoo is going to be unbelievable.

24. ! So it's a bad memory for him, but not an aspiration hit. But wait, Cassius, you're not done yet.

25. ! Awww. De's happy, everybody! Her simself has been gone on Cassius from the get-go, so you
don't have to feel sorry for her. Welcome to the Marian family, De! Dorkiness is optional.

26. ! Cassius: Ooook. I'm married. This sucks.

27. ! Cassius: But I'm married to De, which is awesome.
! Bounced back rather quickly, didn't he? And if you think I'm going to show you a slide of what
happened next, you can forget it.

28. ! Cassius, I thought you weren't interested in toasting before? Who are you toasting now?
!
! Cassius: Fabulous me, of course!
!
! And that's exactly what he was doing, I'm sorry to say, but maybe he deserves it--he's come a long way.
He’s the one who won the Bachelor Challenge: no question about it. So everybody got a happy ending. And
if you read some of of Squeaky Clean, maybe you'll find out what Flavius told Cassius about my Simself,
but again, maybe you can guess. Happy Simming, and may all your romantic adventures end this well.