Sims in Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 284 (Dog Days of December)
Winter in Oasis Springs felt even hotter than summer in Brindleton Bay. The sun beat down on the sand, creating a wall of heat that made movements slow and clammy. Conrad and skip made it all the way here, but the cop still had to drag runaway father, Skip, toward the front door.
"I haven't even lived here yet with Brandi and the kids. But it looks like Rhoda found them another great place to hide her money in."
"Yeah, well, if you can help me get to the bottom of my investigation and get Brandi on side, maybe you can live here rent-free. Better than a tent in Gibbi Point."
Skip grunted but he trudged slowly to the door, trailing behind the well-dressed cop. He hung back as Skip's teenage son, Dustin, let the man inside when he flashed his badge, waiting until he heard Conrad find Brandi in one of the bedrooms before he entered.
He could hear Brandi yelling from behind the closed bedroom door, and he stood in the foyer, bouncing nervously from ball to heel on his feet.
"I don't want to talk to him. He owes me money for the kids, and if he's not here to pay it, I don't want to see him!"
One of the doors opened and Skip straightened his spine. Preparing to face Brandi's wrath, the door opened just wide enough for an infant to crawl through. A tiny brunette crawled across the floor, cooing and smiling up at the blonde man in the foyer. "Da?"
Skip faltered, his heart beating fast as he realized this was Maureen - the baby born after he'd disappeared into the woods. She seemed to sense who he was without an introduction, and she sat heavily on her little legs, reaching to the tall man standing above her. "Uh-up!"
Skip bent down to lift Maureen into his arms. He cradled her smiling face as guilt washed over him for not being there when she was born, but the moment was interrupted when Beau, who'd been just a baby when Skip skipped town, joined them in the main room of the house. "Mama, stranger! Momo get stealed, Maaaaaaa-ma!!"
The alarm in his voice caused commotion inside the bedroom. Brandi had stopped yelling, but the shrill started up again as Skip moved cautiously into the room with Maureen.
"You! Son of a..." Brandi stopped herself as Skip sat next to her on one of the beds. "Are you here to pay me and leave?"
"I'm here to convince you to give up Rhoda so we can all start fresh. Maybe even start fresh as a family."
Brandi laughed until she choked as Dustin focused his attention on a brick of clay. "Family?! How are you going to learn to do that in the time it takes you to pay me back child support? And who is Rhoda?"
Conrad interjected carefully, because Brandi didn't need to play coy. "Have you spoken to your parents, Bob and Betty Newbie, recently? Have they seen Bob's mother, Rhoda?"
On the flight from Gibbi Point, he'd done research into Rhoda Bagley, and he'd learned she had a long criminal record for mostly petty thefts. Her parents, Sam and Maureen "Ma" Bagley, had been the real gangsters, and Rhoda was their troubled offspring who followed them down the same path - but she was never as prolific as her parents.
Her brother, Sherman, had been a football star-turned-beloved teacher in Henford-on-Bagley, earning enough accolades and respect that the local high school named itself in his honour after his untimely death from a lightning strike.
Heather had graduated from Sherman Bagley High, but lore around the school's namesake never included salacious details about his criminal sister. Conrad wasn't sure Rhoda's family history would help him solve his puppy mill case, but he hoped it could help get them talking.
"I think we can trust him, Brandi. No one's seen Rhoda."
Brandi scoffed when Skip spoke, but she was smart enough to hear him out. With an exaggerated sigh, she revealed what she knew. "She goes where she pleases and comes around when she likes. I think the last person who saw her was my Aunt Leila in Sulani."
"You have an Aunt Leila in Sulani?"
Brandi nodded. "Bob and Betty are my parents, but Bob grew up thinking his parents were Robert and Granny Mags. He didn't know his father had an affair with Rhoda Bagley until he was an adult, after Robert died and the truth came out at the funeral. His 'auntie' Rhoda was actually his mother, and Mags had raised him as her own because Rhoda's life was such a mess."
Brandi pulled out a photograph of her parents with Rhoda and the family dog, Buddy, showing it to Conrad as she continued.
"After Robert died, Mags went to Sulani and came back pregnant with Aunt Leila, who's only a couple years older than me. Everyone assumed she'd had a whirlwind vacation romance with a mermaid or something, and Bob and Leila are hardly close, but Rhoda bounces around to all of us when she's between jobs."
Brandi wasn't happy to learn Skip had revealed so much about the dogs already, but her eyes bred hope when Conrad mentioned a plea deal. The seasoned cop had picked up on the fact that this family stayed afloat because of Rhoda's influence, but none had the stomach for a life of crime quite like their matriarch.
"We sold all the dogs before she sent trucks to clear out the farm and gave us the deed to this place," admitted Brandi. "She gave it to us in my name."
"And where is Leila now?"
"She's living in Sulani with her wife, Erin," said Skip and Brandi's eldest son, Dustin. "They made a baby with the help of those geneticists, the Beakers. I think Erin's related to them somehow."
"Do you think Rhoda would've reached out to her? Leila's not her granddaughter, biologically."
The estranged couple shrugged. "Family's family, so it's possible," said Brandi. "She's been out to stay with Leila in Sulani before."
Conrad didn't relish the thought of another trip out to Sulani, but as they spoke, he realized he knew Leila Illes already. In this big world of Simlandia, there was still room for a coincidence or two. Maybe that would make it easier to get information from her, or maybe he was wading deep into some wide-reaching family conspiracy.
He left his number with the Brokes in case Rhoda reached out, but he left Oasis Springs with Brandi scowling over Skip's attempts to flirt, rather shamelessly, considering he'd only just returned from the woods.
Leila's connection to the controversial scientists, Loki and Circe Beaker, made Conrad wonder, but he'd gotten everything he could out of the Brokes and turned to leave.
With new information in hand, he was beginning to think this case was leading him right back where he started, but for now, he had to get home to his family.
In San Myshuno, Nancy Landgraab was growing impatient as she waited for customs to clear the necklace from the museum in Selvadorada. To keep her mind off her impending showdown with an all-powerful immortal spellcaster who wanted that jewelry, she tried to immerse herself in the ballet company's preparations for The Nutcracker, the annual charity production, set to open in just a few weeks.
But five minutes in the room with her fellow board members, Cali Skye and Circe Beaker, showed the women the production was teetering on the edge of disaster.
Personality clashes and injuries were only the beginning. Marina was forced to announce that their violinist, Layne Coffin, had backed out of his planned performance at the last minute.
"Did he find out you've been sleeping with his wife?"
Nancy didn't mince words, even if Marina's two-year-old daughter, Natalia, was running up and down the aisles somewhere in the theatre. She knew the hyperactive toddler wasn't listening, but Marina hadn't kept her private life as quiet as she thought she did.
"My life is my bu-"
"Your life is your business, but now it's affecting the company. Where are we supposed to find another musician who can perform The Nutcracker Suite like a professional in less than two weeks?"
"I'm sure there's someone," Katrina insisted hopefully. "Maybe Connor's wife, Autumn, knows a musician in DSV who's available."
"We should call him," said Natasha. "Maybe he knows a way to keep Charlie in time with the choreography."
"Maybe we need better choreography," Charlie hissed.
Daniela smiled. "The choreography's fine, as long as you practice it."
"Some of us practice. Some of us leave early every night and sabotage their competition's gear," Natasha mused in her full costume and face paint.
As one of the dolls that comes to life beneath the tree, Natasha had practiced her solo for weeks. And each day they practiced together, they all watched Charlie leave before they did. He claimed it was for therapy, but he was still miserable all the time, so they didn't even know if that's where he was really going.
But whenever he left, they didn't care. They were just happy he wasn't sucking up all the air in the room anymore.
"What the hell did you say to me?"
Charlie turned toward Natasha with a menacing growl. "You think I'd break a man's ankle just to steal his job? He hates breaking in new slippers and always wears his practice shoes until they're ready to fall apart. And he's old. His bones and muscles won't hold out much longer, and if I've waited this long to take his place, what makes you think I won't wait just a little longer?"
"He's not that old," said Natasha, as Pearl watched quietly from her place on the stage. She hated when practices devolved into arguments with Charlie, but the state of the production itself was her real worry.
Marina stepped forward with a stern frown. "Charlie, maybe you should go home for the night," she said calmly, taking long breaths to stop herself from meeting his angry energy with similar fire.
"You don't need to ask me to leave, Marina."
Charlie swore under his breath as he marched backstage, while the dancers and board members looked awkwardly among themselves. To avoid another run-in with him, they returned to practice long enough to let him change his clothes and leave the theatre.
But Nancy, Cali, and Circe shared knowing looks. The women of the board had seen more than enough: something had to be done about Charlie Wise. ->
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Thank you as always to @changingplumbob and @oimygiblets for your sims, who add a lot to my wide world of Simlandia and put Charlie in his place when he needs it! I always love having them here.
WCIF: Bob, Betty & Buddy Newbie are Maxis Official sims from the Gallery, Sims 4 versions of their OG sims counterparts. I'm most familiar with this family of premades from Sims 3's Riverview world, and I went looking for a gallery upload of Rhoda Bagley. Couldn't find one because I guess Riverview townies are deeper lore than I thought, so I made her myself from this base sim named Dallas Bagley, by user Moty2825, because I'm wayyyy too CAS lazy to start from scratch.
Everything about their lore is taken from EA except the fact that Robert Newbie and Rhoda Bagley only had an affair if you're the kinda simmer who liked to make drama in Riverview! So Rhoda isn't Brandi's grandmother or Bob Newbie's mother according to EA, only me. And Leila Illes isn't canonically related to any of these sims, but thanks to MCCC she's related in my save!
The Newbies aren’t that new to town anymore with a teenage Brandi ready to break out from under her mother who wants her to be ambitious and with the perfect excuse of her new baby Sister Eliza allowing Brandi to go and meet up with that older Broke boy with his pick up truck.
