Welcome back after a really, really long time to The Spice of Life: A Legacy. I have a quick note before we get into the story. I got a new computer. Yay! I had some graphical glitches and adjustments. Boo! So if you see plumbbobs and the tops of walls, that’s me getting used to taking pictures with my new monitor’s aspect ratio vs. the in-game camera. If you see flat, light blue in the background off the lot, that’s a graphical glitch that I’ve since resolved. I apologize, but on the plus side, I can see fish in the ponds for the first time in my life, so I’m pretty happy overall. The picture-taking will get better with time. Now on to the narration!

Mmph! Oh sorry, I wasn’t expecting you so soon. That’s . . . uh, me, Bay Spice, the current heiress of the Spice legacy. I’m a little occupied at the moment. Can you give me a minute to wrap things up and look a little more dignified?

There. That’s better. Have a piece of Baked Alaska while you’re reading. Like I said, my name is Bay, and I’m a sim. Yup, I know I’m a sim. At this point in my life, I had just been crowned the heiress of the legacy my mom, Cardamom, founded. I have a primary aspiration of romance and a secondary of family, and I decided to be a bit of a different romance sim by desiring to graduate 3 children from college. I’m an outgoing, playful, nice romantic but with a lazy streak, I have to admit. I love cooking and making out, though not at the same time. That’s me!

Mom was very pleased to greet me after the choice had been made. She told me I would do a great job and how proud she was of me. I assured her I would do my best to uphold her traditions. For those of you that have forgotten, the main one is that we’ve decided to always pick spouses on vacation. It’s not quite a tradition, but we also all have a genetic allergy to snapdragons, so we live without those.

Anyway, Mom offered me some money to sock away for my first vacation. She had had to scrimp and save to get the money to go on vacation to meet my dad, and she didn’t want me to take the focus away from my studies. My studies were not my focus in college, but don’t tell her that.

I planned to go on vacation at the end of my first year, so I put away some money for that and used the rest and our scholarship money on building a new house for the re-founding of Oresha Cham Cham, our family Greek house. My siblings and I somewhat whimsically decided to build a Moroccan-esque fortress for the Greek house, which absolutely thrilled the sorority we lived next to the and the fraternity we lived across from, let me tell you. To me that was just a bonus. I’ve always been about doing things a little differently. Romance sim? Focus on kids for life goal. Need to build a house? Build a fortress. Life is more fun this way.

Staying in the house with me were my older siblings, Coriander and Spearmint. They had also been possible heirs, but no one seemed to resent my being chosen. The other ten of my siblings moved back to The Spice Rack, the neighborhood we 13 kids had been born in. We’ll check in with them at the end of the chapter. For now, things are all about Coriander, Spearmint, and me.

We also shared the house with a very special womrat, Lady Fluffybutt. Mom had warned us not to take her advice too literally, as that had resulted in problems, including dangerous fires, in the past. That womrat sure came with a reputation!

However, I found her absolutely delightful. I asked about whether I should wait to meet my true love, but she counseled me to play the field as much as possible for the entirety of my life – no one would mind, she said. I like this womrat!

And so my first year of college went by in a flurry of pillow fights and dates. I dated all my male professors to skate by on grades, and just like Lady Fluffybutt said, no one minded! It helped that none of them knew about each other, but I’m sure that’s coincidental.

Meanwhile, Coriander had almost instantly met a special someone. Her name was Kalani, and he proposed to her before they had even been dating six months. She said yes, and Coriander was the first of all of us to be engaged to be married. My mom and dad are both family sims, so they’re constantly pestering us about finding that someone and settling down. The pestering let up for a little while after Coriander’s engagement as they were too busy dreaming of thirteen weddings.

Meanwhile, Spearmint was having a bit more trouble. It was obvious to me that she had feelings for Lola, a cheerleader who often hung around the house, but her crush seemed to be unacknowledged and unrequited.

Instead she dated a series of lackluster blondes who never really did it for her. I hoped that someday she would get the guts to tell Lola how she felt, but I think even she didn’t know exactly how she felt at that point in time.

*Author note: Spearmint had blonde and makeup as turn-ons, but she didn’t have bolts with a single blonde I tried to set her up with, yet heart-farted about Lola. Time to take a hint, right?

Finally freshman year was over and it was time for me to go on vacation. I went on this one by myself, even though Coriander and Spearmint offered to accompany me. I had a mission, and I was going to see it through, though it did make me nervous. What if I didn’t find someone who made me truly weak in the knees? Would I have to settle? Mom had found the perfect person for her on vacation, but would I be so lucky?

I arrived at Twikkii Island, and at first, things didn’t look so good. None of the natives or tourists really struck my fancy, and I even found a guy that looked exactly like my dad. Talk about creepy!

The locals all said it was good luck, so I made a offering to the Monkey God and wished that I would find my soulmate there on Twikkii.

That same day, I found not one, but two great potential candidates. There was a really hot guy in the hot springs at the hotel, but he got up to leave before I could chat him up too much. I also met a masseur who piqued my interest. Not surprisingly, both of them had red hair, which is one of my favorite traits in a man.

Apparently the guy from the hot springs, a local named Jim, had found me interesting too, and when we ran into each other the next day, I took a leap of faith and asked him on a date. To my great surprise, I realized I was falling in love with him after just a few short hours together. It was kind of baffling, but obviously also really a good feeling. I had never felt like this with any of my flings before.

Jim and I spent a lot of . . . er, quality time . . . together for the rest of my vacation. I was undoubtedly physically attracted to him, but there was something more there, too. He too was a romance sim, and by incredible coincidence, he told me his goal in life was to graduate 3 children from college, just like me! Here was a guy who wanted the family life I was destined to have, but would always keep the passion in our relationship like I desired. Could I really have been so lucky to find The One this easily?

I didn’t spend the whole vacation with Jim because I didn’t want to suffocate our new love. I spent a lot of time relaxing and seeing the sights, and I had a ton of fun! I decided I wanted to see and do everything this world had to offer in traveling!

*I will be completing all the vacation mementos with Bay, as I have never done this before and felt like it was time.

The last full day of my vacation, I found myself checking my teeth one more time in the mirror. Today was going to be a big day. I had something important to ask Jim and he would be there any minute. I couldn’t help feeling nervous. This was uncharacteristic for a sim like me, but I had a really strong desire to lock him down, and I wanted to make sure he was all mine.

*Bay did have a want locked to propose to Jim.

My proposal was a success! Jim agreed to marry me as soon as I was done in college. Although we had just decided to spend the rest of our lives together, we hashed out that we would still be free to date until we could be together again. It was in our natures, after all, and I knew somehow that Lady Fluffybutt would approve of our arrangement.

Jim would be my husband in just a few years. It was a heady thought, and I was so happy that I had found someone so perfect for me. I guess this vacation-spouse-finding thing really does work! Was there anything not perfect about this fine specimen?

I mean, besides his propensity to tell total strangers about our first woohoo.

“It was in this very sauna here, if you can believe it. Right there on that bench where you’re sitting now! No, you don’t have to move, really.”

*This is Jim’s favorite topic of conversation, for some reason.

That night I had two goals. One was to find a treasure chest, and the other was to meet the witch doctor of the island who I had heard about. Dad had passed along a map he had found to a mysterious hut, and I had a good feeling I would find the witch doctor there. In the meantime, I looked for the treasure chest, but my digging was unsuccessful and only served to attract the ire of the staff at the restaurant whose lawn I was digging up.

My search for the witch doctor was a little more fruitful. I found him, befriended him, fixed all his broken stuff, and shocked him mightily when I stripped down to take a bath after all that repair work! He rewarded me with a voodoo doll. Totally worth it.

I saw Jim briefly the morning of my flight back. We re-promised ourselves to each other, and discussed our arrangement to make sure there would be no jealousy while we were apart. It would be hard being apart, but we would keep in touch. I was more excited than ever to finish school, but it wasn’t for the degree. I missed Jim already and I hadn’t even left him yet. I knew the next three years would be difficult.

Back at school, I missed Jim instantly. However, missing him meant I didn’t feel up to wooing my teachers, so I suddenly had a lot of studying to do. On top of that, I had not been a very quick learner as a child like my twin, Basil, and my parents had been so harried by having 13 children that they didn’t insist on us maxing our skills before we left the house, so I also needed to study up on general subjects to ensure I would be prepared for a job someday.

Meanwhile, Spearmint was still chatting up and being disappointed by nearly every blonde woman she came across. She finally – FINALLY! – got the gumption to ask Lola on a date and Lola was just surprised she hadn’t asked sooner. They were soon a couple, and a very happy one at that.

Coriander painted a picture of me to hang up on the wall next to Mom’s portrait. He caught me on the phone in my pajamas, so it wasn’t the most professional-looking portrait, but it did reflect my life at that time. Besides studying, I spent a lot of time on the phone with Jim. I was also getting on better terms with all my siblings, including the ones that were far apart in age from me and whom I had never gotten to know well. I thought it would delight Mom and Dad if all 13 of us were there for my wedding, so I wanted to make sure I was friends with everyone. Besides, it’s always a good thing to be friends with your siblings if you can be; it’s just a bit more difficult if you have 12 of them!

I also got to know the two that lived with me better. They both lived pretty relaxed lives compared to mine, but we still managed to fit in time together.

I was finally getting caught up on everything that I had been too busy to do before. I was doing great in school, maxed my skills, made best friends with all of my siblings, and I even got fit. Things were looking up, even if I did miss Jim terribly.

I asked Lady Fluffybutt what to do about missing Jim, and she advised me that – and I quote – “indiscriminate flirting is the cure to every broken heart, even if you’re nominally partnered at the time!” I do like the way she thinks. Because I wouldn’t reach my LTW for quite a while, it was imperative to keep my mood up, and lots of random flings did the trick.

My siblings did not share my sentiments on this matter, however. Instead of playing the field, Spearmint asked Lola to marry her after a nice afternoon in the hot tub. She of course said yes. Spearmint had finally found the right blonde for her. I was very happy for my sister, but sometimes it kind of sucked to see her and Coriander be affectionate with their significant others when my love was across the ocean.

Anyway, we were getting close to finishing college, so Spearmint went through the work of getting a pledge for the Greek house to keep it open until my kids were ready to pledge. Nahuel was more than happy to join Oresha Cham Cham.

After junior year, we decided to host a large toga party. I even invited Jim to come over and stay a few days with us so he could attend. All of our fiancés were in attendance, of course, so I had to make sure not to invite most of my friends, since I had varying stages of relationships with most of them and I just wanted to focus on Jim for the party. I was really looking forward to him staying after the party so we could spend some quiet time together. It had been two years since we had talked face-to-face, after all!

Therefore, most of the guests were my siblings, and I also invited Mom and Dad. Maybe that’s not super cool for a college party, but like I said, I do things my own way and my family is very important to me. Nahuel was also there, but mostly just so we could influence him to clean up after guests. He and Jim took a liking to each other pretty quickly.

“These flowers are amazing!”“Yeah, Jim, I guess they’re pretty great.”“No, we have nothing like them on Twikkii. Really inhale deeply.”“Oh, wow, you’re right!”

So . . . that happened.

Anyway, the party was a raging success. People were chatting, dancing, and eating everywhere. I served my famous Spice hamburgers, and they were a big hit.

After making sure there was enough food for everyone, Jim and I spent some time together. All that missing each other had been worth it, because being together again was just as blissful as it had been in the beginning. We couldn’t wait to pick up where we had left off.

We shooed Rosemary out of the hot tub for a little alone time when most of the party had moved inside, but Dad could not have picked a worse time to head outside for some air!

In fact, Mom soon followed him out and they stood there flirting while Jim and I held our breath and hid in the hot tub until they went away. Talk about awkward! We all tried to pretend that hadn’t happened.

Of course, Jim just couldn’t make that easy.

“So . . . you must be really proud of Bay for those great grades she’s getting.”

“Yeah, definitely. She’s a very talented and versatile young lady. In fact, during our first woohoo . . .”

Egads. Poor Mom.

When the party was over, Jim told me he had to go too. Something had come up on the island – some rogue fire dancer had set a few huts on fire – so he needed to go back. I was sad that it would be another year before I saw him again after only having him for a day, but at least then we would be together permanently.

*Jim was supposed to stay as a houseguest, but when the party was over, he just up and left with the rest of them. How rude.

I got back to my schoolwork, but I also started pursuing hobbies. After seeing Jim again and realizing that we were getting closer to getting married, I had less interest in dating other people. Instead I tried my hand at writing a couple of novels. They’re not great – not like Bassano Masterpiece’s opus of romance, Plumbbobs of Passion – but they were fun and kept me busy for a while.

I did a lot of cooking too, and Coriander and Spearmint always raved about my dinners. They encouraged me to pursue it as a hobby, too. I had always had an interest in cooking, and before long it had kindled into a passion.

With my siblings’ encouragement, I entered my lobster thermidor recipe in a local cooking contest. To my surprise, I took home first place! All of this was keeping me busy, but it wasn’t keeping my mind off Jim. I still missed him like crazy. Luckily, we had something else in the works to occupy me.

I had decided that five vacations would really make me feel like an accomplished traveler, so on a break shortly before graduation, I rounded up Coriander and Spearmint, and we decided to delve into our family’s history a bit. That meant a trip to Three Lakes, where Mom and Dad met so many years ago. This would also be the last big thing the three of us did together before we graduated and went our separate ways.

Mom had told me the story of her risking her life by walking between axe-throwing targets to check out the guy who would become her husband, and I believed I had found the very spot where that had happened. Just think: if they hadn’t met here, I wouldn’t be standing here now. Fate is weird, right?

As long as I was at the axe-throwing range, I decided to give it a try. Turns out I’m pretty good at it.

I instantly worked on seeing all the local sights and doing all the activities. This meant befriending a creature known as Joshua Bigfoot, a process which was sped up mightily by my voodoo doll. I also checked out some of the locals themselves. Although I was looking forward to seeing Jim soon, a flirt here and there kept me in top form for seeing all that Three Lakes had to offer.

However, winter was approaching in that region and I realized that I wouldn’t make it very far on my travels dressed the same as I had been in the tropics. I needed some new duds, so I picked out a warmer outfit.

On what was supposed to be the last warm day of fall, we three spent a nice evening in the hot tub, just chatting and splashing each other. It started to hail heavily, though, and we barely made it inside that night. Luckily everyone got back to our rooms safely.

“You’re the tour guide that sent me on all those awful trips on Twikkii. Are you everywhere?”“Maybe, and hey, you can’t blame me for making the wrong choices.”“Fine, whatever. Look, I just want a nice, relaxing tour for my brother, my sister, and me. Can you find us something low-key?”“Yeah, sure! No problem!”

*All of Bay’s tour chance card picks have been wrong so far, so she always ends up uncomfortable or unhappy from her tours, but I need them for the mementos.

*Bzzzzzzz*

“Damn you, Tour Guide of Doom! Ow! Ow! Ouch!”

“I hate you.”“Whatever. I’m awesome at my job. You ready for the next two tours you need now?”“Ugh.”

They went about as well as I had learned to expect by that point. The tours on the vacations have been the only part I haven’t really enjoyed.

After a difficult day of touring and being stung by bees among other catastrophes, we three Spices headed to a few local sights to try logrolling and the hot springs. The water at the logrolling pen was freezing by that time of year, so I’m glad I won the contest. The hot springs were just right, however.

I also kept looking for a treasure chest. I spent all night digging and found a few water mains, but no treasure chest. Someday . . .

Then it was time to head home. We had graduation waiting for us, and then we each had a fiancé to go home to back in the main neighborhood. I was really looking forward to getting my hands on Jim again. Despite all the noveling, cooking, studying, and traveling, it had been a long year.

Back at Sim State, all three of us graduated summa cum laude. There was just one more thing we needed to do at college before we turned the house over to Nahuel and moved home.

And that was throw another rockin’ party, of course. All the usual faces were in attendance that night.

Mom and Dad had a blast dancing. Some of my siblings had started getting married and having kids, so they were both over the moon as family sims. Our graduation also satisfied a LTW for Dad.

The end of the party was a time for hugs and goodbyes. We were all going our separate ways for real now. I spent some time catching up with my twin, Basil. We had never been that close as kids, but we had found a new respect for each other as adults.

Mom was also ecstatic about the graduations, but even more so about the prospect of a big wedding. Most of my siblings had elected to get married quietly and privately, but my wedding was going to be a big family bash on the beach, and she was really looking forward to it. So was I, which may seem strange for a romance sim. After all I had been through, I just wanted to see my Jim again.

I said goodbye to Lady Fluffybutt, who encouraged me to try some senior pranks that I wouldn’t repeat in polite company. I declined, kissed her goodbye, and silently hoped that none of my kids would listen too closely to that deranged little womrat.

With all that done, it was time to grow up, claim my place as a real adult, and move on.

I was so excited to see Jim again and get started on the rest of my life as heiress. It was going to be a real thrill, and I was also excited about the prospect of starting a family. That will all have to wait a bit, though, because we’re going to check in on all 12 of my siblings first.

Rosemary married a man who went by the name Major, and together they had a daughter named Costmary. She was a bright, bubbly kid with a huge smile.

Saffron married Nicholas, and they had a son named Ajwain who looked a lot like his daddy.

Sage married Prof. Itzel, the professor I was making out with at the beginning of the chapter, but don’t tell her that. We didn’t have anything serious going, and it was long over by the time they got together. Anyway, Sage and Itzel had twins named Baharat (a boy) and Zest (a girl). Their twins loved hats and were rarely seen without them.

Coriander of course married his fiancée, Kalani. They actually had triplets, which was quite surprising. I don’t know what I’d do with triplets! Left to right in the picture in the bottom left are Kawakawa, Asafoetida, and Borage. Asafoetida was a dead ringer for Mom. It was amazing to see an almost exact replica of my mother!

Salt married Zeeshan, and they had a daughter named Harissa, who was quite rowdy but dressed like a little princess at all times.

Pepper married Dayuma, and their son’s name was Peppercorn. He was a fairly quiet boy whose best friend was his cousin Harissa.

After several years of engagement and a year of longing before that, Spearmint finally married Lola. They had twin boys named Sumac and Onion. These boys could be abrasive and loud, but they had really sweet hearts.

Peppermint settled down with a male maid named Remington, and they had a daughter named Horseradish. Again, this was another kid who took strongly after her dad! It seems like female Spice genes are maybe not as dominant as they could be, considering most of my siblings look like Dad.

Fennel found a husband in Ephraim, and their charming son was named Huacatay.

Fenugreek married Phoebe, his childhood sweetheart, and they had twins girls. Lots of multiples this generation! The girls were named Chia and Neem. Neem is in orange and Chia in yellow in these pictures. The girls were identical twins, which is pretty neat.

My twin Basil had to be the knowledge sim he is and he married a vampire! Contessa Brianna joined the family, and despite trying to turn Basil into a vampire multiple times (which he always mysteriously recovered from), she’s been a great addition. They had an adventurous son named Dill.

Chevril, the baby of the family (I can say that since he’s the only one younger than me!) met a great guy named Jason. They married and had twins (more twins!) named Turmeric (a boy) and Paracress (a girl). These twins were very playful and their house was covered in bubble soap.

Well, that’s it for now. Next time we meet, I’ll have moved home with these crazy folk and will finally be reunited with my Jim. Thanks for listening to my college adventures!

*Thanks for reading! Check in with me at Boolprop or SiMania, and check back soon for more of Bay’s life and her eventual kids!SiMania http://z12.invisionfree.com/sim_maniaBoolprop http://boolprop.net