Welcome back to Already in Progress! I’d give you a recap, but my brain is fried, and quite frankly, there’s no plot to recap. Last time some people got married and some people got pregnant, and some of them were even the same people. Now that you’re all caught up, let’s rejoin our story: Already in Progress…

Abbey’s pregnancy progressed fairly easily. She spent a lot of time sleeping. Descartes was there for her every step of the way, even when she was asleep. Here you see him reading Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care. Sure, Descartes can read upside down and backwards. Can’t everybody?

Sarah Jane and Tim have been working in the garden. It’s been moved and expanded, with four plots for every family member to plant whatever they like. Fall may seem like a bad time to be putting a new crop in, but Tim has a Gold Gardening badge, and can give any unhappy plants a pep talk.

Abbey helped out. She hasn’t earned any Gardening badges yet, but she can pick oranges just fine without, provided she’s allowed frequent potty breaks. She maintained a small belly all the way through her pregnancy.

DESCARTES: Bye, baby. Daddy’s going to work now, but he’ll be home soon. Don’t come out until he does, okay? (kisses belly) Have a good day, and don’t make Mommy too uncomfortable. (kisses Abbey) Have a good day, and call me if anything happens. ABBEY: I will. DESCARTES: I mean it. Call me. (leaves, singing) We’re having a BA-by! My baby and me! We’re having a BA-by! My baby and me! ABBEY (calls after him, laughing): Don’t you know the rest of the words? DESCARTES (cheerfully): The rest of the words? I don’t even know the right tune! (sings, in a different key) We’re having a BA-by! My baby and me!

It took longer than usually for Abbey to go into labor. In fact, it took so long that I was afraid I had a stuck pregnancy on my hands. But Abbey went into labor on her own – after Descartes got home with a promotion to Warhead Disarmer. See? Descartes is so Awesome that he can delay childbirth until he can be there to observe.

Abbey gave birth to a beautiful little baby girl named Anastasia, and here you see a touching family portrait. In fact, there’s only one thing wrong with it. Can you identify the problem? That’s right: Abbey’s hading the baby off. She then gave birth to a second beautiful little baby girl named Rebecca.

Rearranging the house to accommodate two married couples and a pair of twins, not to mention keeping everyone from passing out or wetting themselves took an entire game day. I was not able to get a picture of Rebecca until the next day, when Descartes had been promoted to Hostage Negotiator. Both girls have blonde hair, blue eyes, and the Generic Baby Face. I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I was just showing you two different pictures of the same baby.

But see? Two babies. As far as I can tell at this stage, they’re identical. We shall have to see when they get a bit older.

Of course, Abbey wasn’t the only pregnant Sim last time. Buttercup was pregnant too. It was an easy pregnancy, for the most part. Buttercup’s Hunger bar dropped alarmingly fast, but fortunately pizza raises it just that little bit faster. The parents-to-be were very excited.

And right before sunrise, Buttercup went into labor. BUTTERCUP: Alllllberrrrrt! The baby’s cominnnnng! ALBERT: I’m on my way. BUTTERCUP: Get over here nowwwww! Who cares about the bed? ALBERT: I said I was coming! Now, let’s meet Daddy’s little tax deduction, hey?

Or, you know, both of Daddy’s little tax deductions. Albert is holding Jo (short for Josephine) and Buttercup is holding Cecil. Jo has the lighter skin tone and the darker eyes.

Two babies is a lot of work. Two times the bottles. Two times the diapers. Two times the baths. Two times the cuddles and playing. Two times the being spit up on. Two times the unconditional love, too, though. Mustn’t forget that.

Unfortunately, it also means more than two times the space needs if your twins are of different genders. BUTTERCUP: What are we going to do, Albert? We just bought this place – I love it. I don’t want to leave! But there is no way we can raise two kids in a one-bedroom. ALBERT: Plus, the housing market is bad right now. We’d actually lose money if we sold the place, and we couldn’t write enough of it off for it to make economic sense. BUTTERCUP: Well, then? ALBERT: I was thinking that we should just add on. How attached are you to the patio?

Now, there was one other pregnant sim last time, as you may recall, although perhaps I shouldn’t call her a “sim,” since she has four legs and a tail. Jack Rackham gave birth to not one, not two, but three kittens. Their names are Tom, Latifah, and Mr. Fuzzypants. This gives us a one-to-one ratio of cats to Sims. No wonder “Try For Baby” didn’t even show up as an option after the wedding!

Amy Grew Up Well and promptly changed out of the nice blouse and slacks that she grew up into. This outfit is much more her style. It involves both stompy boots and hot pink fishnets – what more can a girl ask for?

Harkon Grew Up Well also, but his outfit is much less exciting. This will be rectified at the earliest opportunity.

But the truly exciting news is that the Littledragon-Miller family was visited by a burglar! He snuck in and managed to fit the piano in his magic bag before the alarm system could summon the cops.

Alas, he was no match for Officer – Officer – well, let’s just call him Officer Komei-Face. The burglar was no match for Officer Komei-Face, who not only successfully caught the thief: he also received a commendation in his file and a small bonus at the end of the year. The burglar was tried and convicted for the theft of the piano. Since it was his third conviction, he is now serving life in prison with no chance of parole; proof that crime does not pay. The Littledragon-Miller family said “Meh,” and paid cash for a new piano the next day. Seriously, they’re rolling in money. Family members only work because they want to.

And speaking of working, Trixie got her job back. She seems to have as little luck with promotions as her mother did. Okay, technically Rosie was just Trixie’s father’s wife. So what?

Also, Tirtha got her Gold Flower Arranging badge back. I thought she’d had one already, but when I rebuilt, I set her badge level to Silver, no doubt for some logical reason that seemed like a good idea at the time. But you don’t read about Trixie and Tirtha for badges and jobs. No. You read about Trixie and Tirtha for the back-and-forth.

TRIXIE (V.O.): So you’re getting along with Abhijeet okay, I take it. TIRTHA (V.O.): We’re getting along fine. Thank you for asking. TRIXIE (V.O.): Do I get my matchmaker’s fee soon, then? TIRTHA (V.O.): I’m not paying you a dime. You did it all on your ownsome. TRIXIE (V.O.): You’re just upset because Abhijeet has a bad haircut. TIRTHA (V.O.): No he doesn’t. TRIXIE (V.O.): Look, Tirtha, he’s a nice guy and all, but you have to admit: that’s a terrible haircut. TIRTHA (V.O.): No it isn’t.

TIRTHA (V.O.): It’s a poorly styled wig. TRIXIE (V.O.): What do you mean, “it’s a wig”? TIRTHA (V.O.): I mean that it’s a wig. False hair that one wears on the head to hide one’s natural hair or lack thereof. Abhijeet has alopecia universalis. TRIXIE (V.O.): Come again? TIRTHA (V.O.): It means he has no hair. Not head hair, not body hair. He saves a fortune on razors and shaving cream. TRIXIE (V.O.): No hair at all? Not anywhere? TIRTHA (V.O.): Not anywhere.

TRIXIE (seeing an opportunity): And you know this from personal experience, do you? TIRTHA: Oh, shut up. TRIXIE: I mean, how extensive an examination did you do? TIRTHA: I said “Shut up.” TRIXIE: And where exactly did this examination take place? (with exaggerated concern) It wasn’t my room, was it? TIRTHA (sulkily): I’m not talking to you any more.

At the Sanders-Miller household, Charlie’s brother Edgar moved in. EDGAR: Just for a few days, until I find my own place. CHARLOTTE: Heck, Eddie, you can stay as long as you want. We’ve got lots of room. EDGAR: No, no, I don’t want to put you out. But thank you. Edgar has more than twice as many Nice points as everyone else in the house put together. I don’t blame him for not wanting to stay.

And Venus the dog FINALLY learned how to pee outside! She’s better than halfway to Elder, and only just became Housebroken. When EAxis says a dog’s a Doofus, they’re not kidding. But if you don’t count the housebreaking, nothing particularly exciting happened.

There were fires.

Spongebaths.

And Elders who should have had a lot longer to live meeting hula zombies in – you guessed it – the bathroom.

Matthais (Wizenfurger) Miller, age messed up due to the rebuild. Matt was a great big puppy dog and, towards the end of his life, probably the worst Knowledge Sim I have ever had. A long-time member of the Most Logical Brotherhood of the Telescope, he was quite adamant that they were Not Monks, but could never explain the difference. Matt saw no difference between his children and his husband’s son, and all three will miss him. Rest in peace, Matt.

Hey, Sally. Why are you doing your homework on the lawn in your pajamas? SALLY: Because this is where my homework is. Why is it on the lawn? Don’t you have a desk? SALLY: Uh-huh. I have a nice desk. But this is where I put my homework yesterday. Anyway, I had to get up early because I had a really bad dream. I’m sorry to hear that. What was the dream?

SALLY (V.O.): I dreamed that I came home from school and this other kid came with me. He was in my class in the dream, but he isn’t really in my class, if you know what I mean? So he came home with me and then he said “Let’s play Cops and Robbers!” and I said “Okay!” and then I just froze. I couldn’t move or talk or do anything at all, and he didn’t move or anything either. Everybody else could move around and stuff, but I couldn’t. I was just standing there with my needs dropping and I couldn’t do anything and it was just horrible. (muttered) Thank goodness for quit-without-saving! SALLY (V.O.): Huh? Never mind. What else is going on?

SALLY (V.O.): Well, Auntie Anne grew up. She got a pretty funny outfit, too. And Mommy also grew up, but she wouldn’t let us see what she grew up into. We had to all sit in the living room with our eyes shut until she told us we could look again.

SALLY (V.O.): And Oliver and Oakapple came over to visit. Oakapple is Oliver’s best friend. They were in college together, but they were friends even before they went to college. Oakapple used to tease me. He isn’t very nice. Neither is Oliver. SALLY (V.O.): No, but Oliver’s always nice to me. Did Oliver have to travel far? Where is he living now?

SALLY (V.O.): Oh, Oliver and Oakapple live right across the street! I can see their house from my window. Well, it used to be Oliver’s window, but since he moved out it’s mine now. I go over to visit them sometimes. So Oliver and Oakapple are roommates? SALLY (V.O.) (dubiously): Well, I guess so… But you’re not sure?

SALLY (V.O.): Well, roommates usually have separate beds, right? Right. SALLY (V.O.): Well, Oliver and Oakapple only have one. I saw it when I was over there. But they aren’t married. And I don’t think they’re dating because they don’t touch each other. (quickly) I don’t mean like icky touching – just, you know, the ordinary kind. I think it makes Oliver a little sad, so I haven’t asked. Maybe I should check in on them next time.

SALLY: Uh-huh. ‘Scuse me, I have to go have breakfast now. Okay. Enjoy your muffin. We can stop there for now, I think. There should be some birthdays in the next regular update, but before that, Already in Progress will have a birthday! Mark your calendars and come ready to party! Until next time, Happy Simming!