Lies! Let’s Re-count!I could have sworn there was another.

Am I seeing double?

How many are there, anyway?

THEY’RE MULTIPLYING!!!

I could have sworn there was another.

Am I seeing double?

How many are there, anyway?

THEY’RE MULTIPLYING!!!

??????????

Everything was going so fine and dandy. Erik was keeping to his marriage with some success, Bindi had grown into a fine young Family Sim. (Confused? Go read the last two updates).

Alas, on such a place as Fun Time Island, living in blissful family harmony is not a “happily ever after”. It’s an indication that things need to be shaken up a bit.

This is Charlotte. Knowledge. Butt-ugly, horrible personality (it’s worse up close). Rumor is out on the town that her brand-spanking-new, state-of-the-art basement is hiding something.

Old, fuzzy pictures are surfacing. Pictures of a young man that keeps to his mother’s basement. A young man with ever-distinctive black hair and blue eyes.

This is Noah, the son Erik never really knew about. Named after what “Knower” sounds like in a British accent, and rather fond of painting. Dislocated to Bluewater Village after the installation of Open For Business, Noah has no idea who he’s related to.

This could be a problem.

“Must look my best for school. Must make FRIENDS!!!”

There’s more of them than we bargained for. Of course, there are only three children living at the Phantasma house now. Linder, a new Popularity, and her younger twin siblings Ivy and Gabriel.

Side note: Ivy is from The Changeling, even though she is anything but. Gabriel is after that angel or whatever, and always wants to give hugs and do nice things. He kind of gets on my nerves a little.

This means that Bindi has grown up and moved out.

That means weddings and grandspawn…two things everyone cannot wait to see.

Bindi and Zane were married in the backyard of their brand-new cottage, which was specially set up to become a gallery for Bindi’s famous landscapes, available to the public.

Linder sulked through most of the wedding. The available spouse for her was none other than Zane’s younger brother Peter. Peter was not something Linder particularly wanted to spend her life with.

In the midst of the party, no one noticed the sulky teen, even as she made up her mind.

Linder was not getting married. Not without a fight.

“Baby…” :D

What happens when Family Sims get married?

That’s right. Babies.

Bindi and Zane got right down to business. Once they knew the little one was on the way, the gallery opened to the public. It was quite a hit, and the little cottage got furnished rather lavishly from paintings going for seven and eight hundred dollars each.

Zane, unfortunately, was not nearly as observant or outgoing as he had been as a teen, and spent most of the time sulking behind the cash register taking large amounts of money from stranger townie Sims.

“Is this a baby? Must have been one heck of a

party…I’m seeing two of them!”

Twins once was surprising. Twins twice meant that I knew it COULD happen; I just wasn’t expecting it again so soon.

Wesley and Dena were delivered in the dead of night, during a little break from the outdoor chess table. Wesley I named after Wesley in the Princess Bride; Dena surprised me and was made up on the spot.

Bindi was quite thoroughly delighted. Zane, to me anyway, just started looking perpetually baffled, as though wondering why this was happening to him. He still has this look, even though all the children are gone.

Count them once, and count again…the number keeps changing.

Quick recap: Erik Phantasma has five children. Three of them live at home (Linder and twins Ivy and Gabriel). One lives in a basement, and is not his wife’s (Noah). One has moved out and gotten married (Bindi).

With me so far?

Bindi has twin babies Wesley and Dena.

Linder has vowed to herself never to get married, but marriage seems to be her only problem.

The twins are still little phantoms—I have no idea what to do with them yet.

Linder

Gabriel

Ivy

“So then she says…no, you won’t believe this…she says…”

Very bad picture of a birthday party. Both Linder and the twins are grown up; Linder to adulthood, Ivy and Gabriel to teen. I took the liberty of labeling them for easy reference, and even took out the nasty plumbob.

I finally had some plans for everyone. Ivy and Gabriel were going to be some of the first beneficiaries of my recent OFB installment.

Quickly dispensing another round of the “family fortune”, I had Linder moved out and a pair of smallish stores purchased for the twins.

“Come on, Wesley. Come to Mama.”

*Giggle!*

Erik’s twin grandchildren didn’t manage to charm me quite as much as their mother, but I did realize one thing.

Grandparents get old.

I could not allow the most successful Sims I had ever met to die and make my precious Bindi miserable. I refused.

Elixir of Life came out in storm to keep them young and happy. Bindi was not going into aspiration failure on MY watch, thank you very much. Erik and Faustina both got great heaps of the stuff.

With their ever-vigilant (not) guardians secured in immortality, the twins took on a new life. Linder moved out; we’ll be seeing her in another chapter in a little while.

Two activities in particular interested the young teens. The first was dating. I introduced a specially genetically engineered family next door to the Hatfields, of which Zane married Bindi. The newcomers are Leo (plaid, next to Ivy) and Maria (redhead).

The four teens got on Erik’s nerves a fair bit, mostly be occupying his hot tub for long stretches of time and by sneaking out at all hours of the night.

The other activity taken up by Ivy and Gabriel was business. In a desperate attempt to keep the young ones busy, Erik bought both children their own businesses; Ivy a book shop and Gabriel a bakery specializing in cheesecake. The free samples at the bakery were a hit, and it took me three pregnancies to work out the mystery twin plague (Wesley and Dena being the first).

Neither business got too far; Gabriel was a bit preoccupied with Maria, and Ivy got obsessed with her own books (respectively, Family and Knowledge).

“So good to see you! Zane has been out with that special job of his so

much…thanks for coming!”

Meanwhile, Bindi was expecting again. She stayed home for most of it (and away from the cheesecake, which remained unidentified for that reason). Zane, now working in the Science career track, spent a lot of time absent. Not wishing Bindi to suffer potential twins alone, Linder came over to visit.

I had to admit, I was getting a bit more fond of Linder. Her story is coming up later, keep an eye out. Her general doings interest me.

Be careful with that baby, Linder. I like her

more than you. Hurt her and I shall smite you.

Welcomes extend to baby Miri! (this is before I started keeping the AI on…personalities didn’t mean much back in the day, and I don’t have records). Miri is named after the main character in Princess Academy (which, contrary to the two women in this picture, I don’t like all that much).

I didn’t quite know what to make of Miri at first, but she develops a distinct favoritism from toddlerhood, seconded only by a future sibling I shall not yet name.

Wesley and Dena were growing up nicely, taking art lessons and attending private school, and in general getting very little attention, even from a Family and a Knowledge (which I assumed would work better than Romance and Popularity, who turned out one good one with my help, although I always put it down to the natural magic of the oldest child).

Dena was looking to be a ready-made Fortune; she was addicted to her lemonade stand outside and piggybacked on her mother’s business. Wesley I finally decided could be popularity.

Please excuse the nasty Plumbob in the photo. I promise my photography does get marginally better.

Ivy took to randomly showing up at the gallery, mostly to play with Dena. She bought lemonade, played dolls…I like to put it down to her fascination with another twin.

The baby in the picture is Miri.

Catch the next update sometime in the next week…still debating whether to

do a continued Bindi feature or a Linder side note.

Guess how I got the title? “Lies, Let’s Re-count”, is all the letters in “Election

Results” scrambled up, with a few punctuation marks.