The Heart Family Legacy: Chapter 16: Taboo

A bunch of Sims standing still like dollies; vacant-eyed and frozen. A situation like this can only mean one thing...

It's wedding time!

Urgh, back in the day I couldn't really have Sim gatherings due to lag on my crapass computer, but now it's because, ever since Ambitions, all the Sims start spazzing out on me at parties.

Still, Paiden and Paloma look rather cute in their fairy dresses don't they, even if they are having a tandem freakout.

Tristan and Juliet did their best to ignore the unhinged masses as they said their vows and exchanged rings.

And soon enough they were married- Mr and Mrs Heart.

Following the wedding Tris and Juliet headed out for the evening. They'd received an invitation to a friend's birthday party so spent the night out in the city.

Meanwhile, back at home, Auntie Thaila was in charge of the kids- and she had some very special plans for the evening...

After a few hours watching telly, Paiden and Paloma went out to play in the backyard whilst Thaila cooked dinner.

And in time dinner was served, and for Paloma it was a very unusual meal...

One could say it was somewhat life changing.

In the early hours of the morning Tristan and Juliet returned from their night out, and a surprising new figure was waiting for them.

And both parents were very happy to see her.

After Paloma's transition she was able to live a completely normal life like her sister Paiden, which usually involved a mixture of schoolwork and play.

Whilst the kids were out at school, Juliet ran the house and spent her time painting, though this was hampered somewhat by the many ghosts' efforts to get in the fricking fracking way, as always.

The abundant number of ghosts had been getting on my nerves to no end, and soon another was about to join them.

Cassidy put up a good fight but ultimately he just had to relent to death's call, by which I mean my mouse-clickyness.

He took the defeat graciously in the end.

But whilst Cassidy was accepting of his mortality, his son Tristan wasn't quite as thrilled and he promptly broke down a bit. At least his loving wife Juliet was there to comfort him though.

Yep, in such a close-knit family there's always someone around to lend a supportive embrace.

Cassidy's death was quite hard for Paiden and Paloma because they'd loved their grandfather, but people mend- kids in particular- and both girls were able to move on soon enough.

Paiden and Paloma had a close relationship and loved to spend time in each other's company. Every day after school the duo would head out to the park to play together.

Wow, isn't that just the grumpiest swing face you've ever seen?

As well as the usual childlike pursuits of fun and frolics, occasionally Paiden and Paloma also liked to visit some of the bars in Bridgeport so they could dance it up.

And, after a night out partying, daddy Tristan was always there to pick up the girls and give them a lift home.

Meanwhile, Juliet was back at base camp popping out a brand new baby bump.

The next night it was birthday time so the whole family gathered to celebrate with the twins.

Mort the ghost came too, and his way of celebrating was to wet himself.

Paloma was the first to transition.

She takes after Juliet I do believe.

And then came Paiden.

Ah, she really reminds me of a Sim from The Mars Family Legacy- my favourite Sim in fact. See if you can figure out who it is.

After the girls had become teenagers Paiden was eager to try out a new interaction- 'Ask to be Best Friends Forever'. Well, I assume it's new- I've never seen it before.

Anyways, Paloma said yes of course.

I don't believe I've mentioned Paiden's traits before, but one of them is Virtuoso so as a teen she was able to jam with her dad.

Paloma meanwhile Loves the Outdoors, so she took up gardening.

Tris and Juliet weren't as consumed with skilling as their kids- they had more important things to prepare for, like the impending arrival of the new baby.

However, Juliet did have a few special skills she wanted to pass on to her kids...

As an experienced shimmier, Juliet decided to put her experience to good use by taking her daughters out to a club.

Paloma and Paiden eased into the night gradually by first enjoying some bar snacks.

After food was supposed to come dancing, but Paiden found herself distracted by a cute teenage boy called Raoul, and they fast discovered that they had things in common- like the Neurotic trait. Probably not the best thing to have in common I know, but still.

He's pretty nifty for a born-in-game Sim eh, and Paiden gets all gushy and shy around him. She does have the Shy trait yanno, but it doesn't make itself known often- just around cute boys. Ain't it always the way.

After a few stolen minutes with Raoul, Paiden returned to her family and received some lessons in the art of dancing- Juliet style.

The partying trio returned home early the next morning and swiftly went to bed.

Later that day, whilst the girls were hard at work at school, Juliet went into labour.

The proud parents rushed to the hospital and returned home later with a little baby boy called Lane in tow.

At the weekend, Paiden and Raoul went out on their first date to the butterfly... place.

They returned to that spot a number of times over the next couple of weeks as their friendship and relationship grew.

The other thing that grew was their skills. Paiden loved to play keyboards and Raoul was skilled at the guitar, so as time went on the two would jam together.

They also liked to lock lips, as one might expect.

Okay so I'm a bad Sim Overlord- I missed Lane's transition, sue me. All you need to know though is he grew up to be a happy and surprisingly ginger little boy. Cassidy throwback.

With his ghostbusting job only taking Tris out at nights he was always there to care for his boy.

Meanwhile, the teen girls were looking after themselves. Paloma made a couple of new besties in her spare time- the girl is Kelsey Davidson (Regan and Cid's daughter) and the boy is Leonardo Heart (Jayden and Magdalena's son), so they are in fact cousins.

Paiden only had eyes for her boy Raoul.

By this point, Paloma had reached level 6 in the piano skill and Raoul was equally adept with the guitar, so the two would often head out to bars to play for tips.

Well, that and to get sloshed on special beverages.

And to do some dirty dancing.

Paloma wasn't really too much like her sister. They were still good friends but the girls were different- Paloma preferred caring for her family over nursing a hangover.

And it was a good thing too- with a new bambino on the way Tristan and Juliet would need all the help they could get.

The family was expanding at quite a rapid rate but both parents were thrilled by it. Tris and Juliet knew it wouldn't be easy taking care of two young children at once but they'd done it before so they knew they could cope.

However, there was a certain element that no one was expecting, and it was destined to throw a spanner in the works for sure.

Rebel child is rebellious.

After discovering she was pregnant, Paiden allowed herself a little time for the news to sink in... and then she spazzed out.

Having a baby this young was not planned, and for a party girl like Paiden it was absolutely the last thing she needed. Still, Paiden wasn't weak- she was brave, and she knew she could deal with anything.

Then again, she didn't think she'd be doing it alone... Paiden and Raoul were as close as two lusty teenagers could be so naturally she was expecting him to stick by her. However, I guess Raoul's Neurotic trait was prone to rearing it's ugly head too, because after hearing the news he didn't exactly offer consoling hugs and kisses.

Still, he may have been scared but he wasn't a bastard. Raoul knew what the baby would mean for both their futures, but he loved Paiden in his own way and so vowed to stand by her, no matter what.

Of course, the panicked meeting was cut a little short when Paiden was promptly picked up by the cops for breaking curfew.

After being dumped back at home Paiden received a tongue-lashing from a frustrated Juliet.

She didn't mean to bust her daughter quite so harshly, but Juliet had a lot on her plate at that time and really couldn't be fussed dealing with a bratty disobedient teenager.

Unfortunately though, that scolding really wasn't what Paiden needed. She'd been fretting telling her parents about the baby, and in that moment she realised something- maybe it would be best if she kept the whole thing to herself.

In the morning Paiden didn't go to school. She told her mom she was sick and crawled into bed, trying to hide from her mounting problems.

When Paloma returned she immediately sought out her sister, because as twins she always knew when something was wrong.

Paloma just wanted to help, but when someone has a secret they so desperately want to keep the last thing they need is someone prodding about in their business.

Yelling at her sister, Paiden snapped and told Paloma to just butt out, and with the outburst she knew she had lost her last ally.

Upstairs the empty attic called. Paiden went to it and embraced the darkness and the solitude caused by pushing everyone away. She felt it was simply what she deserved.

Later that night, the rest of the family gathered to help Lane celebrate his birthday.

Boy, if you think putting on a FuryRed shirt and pulling a cheesy grin at me is going to make me heart you... you're totally right.

You know, after Lane had aged up a very strange thing happened. Immediately the boy raced outside, got on his bike, and started peddling away from the house.

Now, this was weird for many reasons- the most prevalent being the fact that it was past curfew and that Lane didn't actually have anything in his action queue to make him do it.

Being the naturally curious soul that I am, I put on my spy goggles and did some creeping. Bet you can't guess where the boy ended up?

Care to explain this one to me? Anyone?

By this point I was more than a tad perturbed by these events so I quickly zapped Lane back home, cause I'm a cheater.

That night, after everyone was back home safe and sound, the whole family turned to their beds for the night- all except Paiden.

With her tummy expanding more and more everyday she couldn't risk going downstairs and being discovered, and so Paiden slept in the attic alone.

The following morning Juliet went into labour, in her undies as always... strange woman.

Paloma looked after her little brother whilst her mother and father went to the hospital.

I'll ignore the fact that she's having a burger for breakfast on the account of how helpful she's being, unlike certain attic tramps.

Another baby boy was introduced to the family- Lake.

For a while after that the rest of the family were busy looking after Lake, and this gave Paiden an opportunity to call a friend for some assistance.

Raoul hadn't been able to attempt a visit before, what with the questions it would raise. However, with everyone busy he could sneak into the attic without being seen, and so was able to bring Paiden some of things that she needed- like food.

It had been a couple of days since Paiden had ate- being afraid as she was of going downstairs and having her secret discovered- so she was grateful for the meal.

With a fully belly, in more ways than one, Paiden was somewhat happier- and she was even more pleased by Raoul's growing interest in his baby.

However, I guess that interest didn't quite extend to the baby momma herself... For some reason Raoul point-blank refused to have anything to do with Paiden whilst she was pregnant.

Not exactly Father of the Year are we Raoul?

I think being rejected by her boyfriend was just about the last thing Paiden needed at that point in time, and naturally it made her a little angry.

The couple fought a while, and Raoul left.

Leaving the pregnant teen alone, once again.

In the early hours of the morning Paiden began to experience an unspeakable pain, and this brought about the most terrified-looking labour face I've ever seen.

Going through childbirth has to be one of the most unimaginable pains a person can suffer, so to go through it alone when you're only a child yourself?

Devastating.

With a sparkling afterglow.

Following the birth, Paiden experienced a deathly calm feeling. Giving birth was in a way like being released from prison- Paiden felt free again, and she knew just what to do with her liberty.