Woods Random Legacy: Chapter 27 - New Life

Sunset Valley was filled with talk of how lucky it had been that none of the Woods family had been at home when the arsonist struck.  A culprit - complete with motive, means and opportunity - was apprehended and arrested, and between the insurance settlement and their savings the family settled into a single-story house that had been newly built up on the ridge.

It was strange, but nobody from the construction company seemed to remember who had commissioned the house to be built.  There had been a customer, once upon a time, but right around the time the house had been finished they seemed to have fallen right off the face of the Earth, and no records of their name could be found in the computer system.  It was a real stroke of luck that they'd found such a nice family to move in!

Entering the house, James surveyed the bare front room, looking towards the kitchen.  He was hungry, but Eliza would whip up some food before long.  In the meantime, he'd take a look around the rest of the house.

Through the kitchen and laundry room was the back porch, overlooking the car port and pool area.  James had always wanted a pool, growing up, but the old back yard had been too small.  Not anymore!

Back inside, Eliza, predictable as always, set about concocting something in the kitchen.  Greg strode past, paying no attention to the shiny new appliances and counter tops that had caught his wife's interest.

James had set his parents up in the guest bedroom, a cosy room decorated with dark woods and rich reds and golds.  Greg's favorite part was the fancy gothic mirror, which he promptly broke in by making silly faces at himself.

James's bedroom was much more spacious, decorated in shades of green rather than the warmer hues of the guest bedroom.  He tried out the bed and smiled to himself, thinking of all the good times he'd have in this room.

The master bathroom was similarly spacious.  He'd designed it to have a tub by the window, in addition to the fancy stall shower, but had run out of funds.  Still, the plumbing was in the walls, so it would be almost trivial to add the fixture once he could afford it.

Back in the front room, Greg, finished playing with the mirror, was staring out the front door moodily.

Eliza: "What is it, dear?"
Greg: "I don't like it."
Eliza: "You don't like what?"
Greg: "This house.  What was wrong with the old one, hrm?"
Eliza: "The old house burned down, dear.  Remember?"
Greg: "Hmph!  Goldanged fire, ruining a perfectly good house."

After making lunch, Eliza headed back out to the summer festival, hoping to reassure the neighbors around town that the family was getting back on their feet after their temporary displacement.  When she heard a woman call "Mom!" from across the park, she smiled to herself, turning to greet her daughter.
Eliza: "Crystal, it's so nice to see you, dear!  How are you?  How's the baby?"
Crystal: "She's fine, I'm fine, so's Lyle.  He's watching her today while I came out to get a break for my own sanity."
Eliza chucked.  She knew what that was like!

Crystal: "Are you getting settled in?  I haven't heard anything from anybody apart from what you said on the phone the other day, that you'd found a place and would be moving out of the hotel soon."
Eliza: "Yes, it's very nice.  Lots of room, and the kitchen is quite high-tech!  There's even a trash compactor and a dishwasher.  I never had those in my house growing up."

Crystal smiled.  The kitchen sounded nice, maybe if Faye could be convinced to come around...no, that was probably a lost cause.  Her sister was still holding everybody at arm's length, even after the fire.  There had been one phone call - relayed through Lane, of all people - to make sure everybody was alright, but then nothing.  Crystal was used to it by now, though; Faye hadn't confided in her like they had as children for years.
Eliza: "Are you okay?  You looked sad for a moment."
Crystal forced the smile back on her face.  It was a beautiful day, no need to waste it with her worries.
Crystal: "Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking.  Come on, let's go try the funnel cakes - Lyle said they were particularly good this year."

While Eliza was eating funnel cakes with her daughter and Greg was doing who knows what at the house, James set off across town to attend a party.  He barely knew the host, Carson Farr, but he thought that his father did.  And when the invitation came in the mail, addressed to "Mister Woods," well, James could hardly be blamed for any confusion.  The house was nice, possibly a bit too spacious, but the backyard was perfect for a pool party.  After changing into his swimsuit, James made note of the bar as he approached the pool; he wasn't terrible at mixology, maybe he would mix up a few basic drinks later.

The water was cool and refreshing as James swam while he waited for the rest of the guests to show up.  Soon he heard voices up by the backdoor - not too many, there might be only one or two guests apart from himself - so he climbed out of the pool, toweled off, and stepped towards the bar.

Making basic drinks was pretty straightforward.  Fill the blender with ice, pour in some juice, add a little kick, and then blend until the ice was all chopped.  The people talking by the backdoor came down towards the pool, drawn to the sound of the juice blender being operated.  It was the host, Carson, and an elderly woman that James recognized as Dominique Jansen-Sw0rd.  Apparently, she had been the only one to turn up, apart from himself.
James: "Almost done making drinks Mr. Farr, Ms. Jansen-Sw0rd.  Want some?"
He made sure to apply the proper accent when pronouncing the '0' in her last name, prompting a warm smile from the old woman.
Dominique: "Oh, you can just call me Dominique.  And yes, please."

Carson waved his hand, signaling a pass on the drink, so after filling a glass James stepped forward, handing it to Dominique with one of his winning smiles.
James: "Here you go, Ms. Dominique."
She took it with another smile, and James turned to the host.
James: "Excellent party, Mr. Farr."
Carson: "Oh, it's good enough, I expect.  You'd never know that back in my day I was quite the party animal.  I used to throw bashes every weekend, half the town would come!  Now look at me.  I'm old, I'm fat, and I've lost it."
James: "What?  You haven't lost it, not by a long shot.  You ready?"
Carson: "Eh?  Ready for what, young man?"
James leaned back, then waved his hands in the air, shaking his butt while letting out his most enthusiastic "WOOO!"  Carson just stared for a moment, taken aback, then grinned and replicated the gesture, adding his own voice to the traditional party animal greeting.  It culminated in a mid-air double-high-five, and James grinned to the older man, who laughed.
Carson: "Well then, I guess you're right!  I've still got it after all!"
James: "Right on!  I'm going to get a drink.  Sure you don't want one?"
Carson: "Well, maybe I'll have one after all.  These old bones still have life in 'em yet!"

James headed back to the bar and poured the rest of the blender's contents into two glasses, one for himself and one for Carson.  Intent on his task, he didn't look up as he spoke.
James: "Ms. Dominique, how's your drink?"

Dominique: "Oh, it was delicious, thank you, but I seem to have run into a slight difficulty."
Confused, James looked up.

Dropping the glass he held in his hand, he could only stare at the scene before him.  He gave her a drink...and then she died.  He gave her a drink, and she died.  She died!  He knew he hadn't poisoned the drink, but to any witnesses it looked like he'd murdered the old lady!

He had to get out of here!

Dominique: "Oh, look at him go.  Such a sweet young man, I hope he doesn't blame himself for what happened.  It was just my time."

While everybody else was out, Greg had taken it upon himself to furnish the front room.  Remarkably, this hadn't ended in a mismatched disaster.

There was a reading corner and an entertainment corner, as well as space for Greg and Eliza to each practice their preferred hobbies.

He had also purchased some deck chairs and tables for the pool area, along with an outdoor stereo system.

This was disturbingly competent for Greg, and worrying about what might have managed to go horrifically wrong with the house served to distract James from any possible fallout from the death of Dominique.  Once the paper came out ruling the death to be natural, he relaxed entirely on that front, proceeding with his plans.  After procuring a clever disguise to conceal his identity from who he hoped would be his new coworkers, James sought out the head of the mob in town, asking for a position in the family.

He was nearly laughed out of the house, but one high-ranking individual spoke for him, and he was offered a position...at the very bottom, as a decoy.  Fighting the urge to walk out, James accepted the job offer.  After reporting to a job that night, James performed so well that he was swiftly promoted to the position of cutpurse - just a job title, James confirmed, preferring not to actually cut any purses.  So far, his double life - privileged party boy living off of an inheritance, and future master of the mob - was working out perfectly for him.  He just had to make sure that he didn't drop any of the balls he was balancing, or they all would come crashing down.

~ * ~

Sorry for the huge delay in posting, real life got in the way.  So, this is the fancy new house I built about two months ago, based off of some plans I found online(no, I'm not sure where, but I can try to track them down if anyone is interested).  The idea is that I can live for at least a few generations in the same house, without having to add on a bunch of franken-extentions.  In addition to the kitchen, dining, living and porch areas, there's a master bedroom and bathroom(for the heir, obviously), a "guest bedroom"(for the previous generation until they die off), a laundry area, two full bathrooms, and two regular parking spaces.  There's also two rooms(currently empty) that you haven't seen yet, each the perfect size for a bedroom, nursery, study, or similar area as needed.  I might want a bigger house at some point, so I'm not saying I'll stay here forever, but it's a decent place for now.

I was laughing so hard at the party death.  I didn't pose any of it, that's pretty much how it went down.  You know what they say: it's not a good party in the sims unless the reaper's been invited!  (Please be ignoring the fact that I am fail and left the walls down in that one shot, thanks.)

I tried using a fancy mask to conceal James's identity, but the only CC mask I could find had a mesh that was too shallow to fit James's nose.  I hadn't realized it was quite so large!  It looks totally normal, right?

So, I have University Life installed now, still waiting on all of my mods to update before I can continue playing the legacy.  I do have one more chapter already written out, so it'll be in the game starting with chapter 29, but I don't know if I'll make use of it until generation 3 is headed off.  James seems the sort to go to college, but I think it would mess up the pacing to do it at this point, so I won't have him take classes unless he rolls wishes to do so.