Update 5 - New Beginings

I'm back people!!! I know I didn't update for a REALLY long time but trust me I didn't forget the challenge! I was just really busy and I didn't have the time to play a lot and write this chapter but now I have way more time which means Now... Finally... It's here!!! The next update will take a little less time than half a year, I promise you.

So, things seems to be be going well for the Sparks. Liana finally moved to the mixology branch of her career. Yes, she's finally a real mixologists, not some weird chef-mixologist hybrid! While she still enjoys cooking for her family and friends, she was more than happy she could focus on the real passion of her life. It didn't hurt that she received a nice bonus too. Her and Liam could afford to buy a new gnome in the place of the one that they had to sell (remember the naked gnome? He will be missed). This time they bought the Grim Reaper gnome. A little creepy.

Speaking of passion and cooking, there was an event that combined them both- Liana and Ben Hedrick's first date. Ben came to the house, where Liana made him some delicious Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus and they enjoyed good drinks. Liana knew from Liam that Ben's house was quite impressive, and she wondered why he chose to come to her small house instead of having the date at his place, but she didn't complain. Ben was eager to taste her cooking and cooking in her own house where she knows where everything is was more relaxing. During the dinner Ben told her his life story and she told him hers. Even though she was annoyed at Liam for his matchmaking trick, she found that he was right. Ben was interesting, and funny and charming and... Handsome.

When the evening got to it's end Liana and Ben shared a kiss, and promised to see each other again.

Another couple that was blooming was Liam and Simone. It became a habit that when Liana went to work Simone came and they did their homework together, and then did other things together. Their relationship grew deep very fast, and they officially started to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend. And then one day Simone told Liam that she loves him and he realized it was the same for him. He loves her.

The kitchen sink broke down (I swear everything in their house breaks) and instead of having Liana fix it I decided to take advantage of the new update and order a repairman. Well it was new back then... Wow that was a long time ago. Anyway a lovely repairwoman fixed the sink, and as a sign of gratitude Liana invited her for some delicious pie.

And then a very important day arrived, it was Liam's birthday! He was finally going to be an adult! At least a young adult...

In the morning Steven came to the house and the family had dinner together. It was nice, seeing that after everything this family went through they found their own peace.

He spent the rest of the day doing nothing. Well not doing nothing, sharpening his skill in video games. Liana couldn't help but being a little proud when she looked at him. She was pretty good at video games but she could see that he topped all her achievements. It was funny really, it was something so dumb but still it's something that Liam passed her in. He was growing up and it made her both happy and sad.

In the evening Liam celebrated with all of his friends in Club 46. They all danced and enjoyed all those drinks that they were finally able to drink legally (some of them at least). Anna's mom Rose decided to come to the club and probably made the party really awkward for Anna.

Eventually all of them gathered to watch Liam blow the candles. Also in the picture: the ghost of Geoffrey Landgraab who annoyingly stood right in front of Liam.

And... There you go, young adult Liam! His third trait is Romantic by the way.

A quick Legacy Challenge remark: I know that since Liam became a young adult before Liana finished all her generation goals I technically failed the challenge. But I play this challenge because I want to make the game more interesting and my stories more interesting. And I don't want to stop playing the Sparks, I love them. And the reason it took me so long to complete Liana's generational goals and I didn't make it on time is because I wanted it to make sense plot wise and I spent a lot of time trying to find the best way to break Liana and Steven up, so I decided that I will continue with this legacy. I'm going to have Liana finish her goals first, so it's still generation 1, and then I'll move to generation 2 with Liam.

There to congratulate him was Simone. He kissed her and everyone cheered.

After that came more drinks! And music and dancing! The party lasted until late in the night.

Liam drank a lot, and so did Simone. When everyone started to scatter Liam took her and asked "Do you want to come to my house?".

"But isn't your mom there?".

"No she's still working. We'll have the whole house to ourselves".

So they sneaked into the house and into Liana's room (you know... A double bed...) and there they did this thing that adults do.

After they finished Simone got a little serious. She said they can't continue doing this, sneaking out like that. Liam is living in the freaking basement, and Simone lives with her mother and brother. They're both adults now and they need some independence. So, she thought that maybe they could live together, buy an apartment and just start their lives with each other. She knows that Liam doesn't have a lot of money but she can pay for most of it herself.

Liam didn't respond the way she expected. He told her that it was way too early for something like this. Simone, while disappointed, told him that she understands and that they can forget she ever said it, but Liam was still upset. He told her that they can't really forget about it, that this thing will hang over their heads forever and ruin the balance of their relationship.

Anyway, it got nasty really fast. Liam called Simone's offer dumb and naive, and then Simone called Liam entire behavior childish and idiotic. And then they fought for a while, about this and about thousand other things that were bottled up and just waited for a chance to resurface between them, and then there was just silence. And the understanding that their relationship has ended.

But of course since it's The Sims Simone didn't actually left the house. Liam was really tired so I made him sleep but I forgot to make him tell her to leave, so she stayed there for like 5 more hours and watched TV. At least she cheered up a little from the breakup I guess.

Liam was playing on the computer when it broke. Liana was busy so he sat down and fixed it himself. Good for you Liam.

Steven came to visit again, and he and Liam had an heart to heart talk. Liam told him everything that happened with him and Simone and Steven suggested that, perhaps Simon's offer scared him so much because it meant that their relationship was serious. He grew up knowing from close up what happens when you jump too early and give all your heart to someone, and that moment with Simone brought all those memories. Lashing out at her was just a way to push her away and try to save himself from getting too close to her.

Steven's words only made Liam sadder. He realized what a great mistake he made. Simone was sweet, funny and caring and she didn't deserve any of this. If things turned out differently they could be a happy couple. Get married, have kids. But you can't turn back the wheel, and maybe fate has a different plan for both of them.

*wink* I have a different plan for them.

Liam and Sky decided one day to go to the gym together. They trained together and talked, but something wasn't right. First Sky looked really excited, but then he looked to Liam a little tense. He got up and went to the bathroom, but the were full. He looked clearly tense now and left the room, mumbling something about is mother needing him. Liam didn't buy it though. He was worried. He rushed out of the room to catch him and indeed he saw him there trying to calm himself down. But there was something else and suddenly Liam understood why Sky left in such a hurry. It disappeard a second after but Liam knew what he saw - there was a fainted orange aura around him.

Liam is a nerd you know. He watched a lot of TV shows and read many books and he had no doubt about what that aura was.

It was the emotional aura of an alien. His best friend was an alien.

Update 4 - Moving On

So, what happened the last update?

Oh right, Rose came with a heavy belly and told Liana the entire truth. She was in love with Steven, truly and utterly and madly in love with him, but when she learned that she got pregnant she realized this can't continue anymore. The baby needs a father, not some person who is married and have to hide his child's existence from his wife. She lost hope that Steven would ever tell about them to his wife, so she had to do it herself.

And Liana? She was pissed. The love of her life, the man she was married to since they were old enough to marry, slept with another woman. It was a very big surprise to Steven when he came home and the first thing he felt was a giant slap to his face.

Than they argued. For a very long time. Steven tried to excuse his actions, and when that didn't work he accused her of being so busy with her work that he had to find some appreciation and love somewhere else. If he thought it would help to soften her up he was dead wrong. Liana exploded. Mixology is her passion, her dream. A good husband would support her dream and encourage it, not sleep with someone else behind her back. Especially when she supported his fantasy that playing guitar in the streets would make them rich.

They continued to argue for what seemed like forever, but eventually there were no words left to say. Except for one. "Go"

"What?"

"I said go, get your bags and go somewhere else. I don't want you to live here anymore. And expect the divorce papers very soon".

"Liana, I know what I did was wrong, but is it really worth ending this marriage? After everything we've been through? So many years together? A child?".

Liana smiled sadly. "This marriage ended when you kissed that girl".

On a slightly lighter topic, when Liana and Steven were angry at each other, I looked at the menu of Liana's interactions with Steven and I saw an option that was "Apologize... In bed". This is one of the things I love about this game, how they plant little quirky things like that.

Everything happened pretty fast after that. Before Liam came back from school, Steven already packed his belongings and went to stay at their friend Zachariah's house. He invited him for as long as he needs, which was really helpful since Steven probably won't have enough money for even the smallest house in the near future. He couldn't stay at Rose's house because he stopped seeing her. They decided that they would still talk, and Steven would have partly custody over the baby when it's born, but other than that it would be very hard for him to forgive her for what she did. He understood her having second thoughts about their relationship, but she should have talked to him about it, or at least let him tell Liana and explain everything instead of going behind his back like that.

Only when Steven closed the door it hit Liana that this is truly over, that he left and she is alone now. Very quickly the anger faded away and all she felt was crushing sadness.

When Liam came home he found her in her room under the blanket. He wasn't stupid. When he didn't see his father he thought that maybe he's at one of the parks playing, but when he saw her like that it didn't take him long to understand that the secret was discovered.

Without saying a word, he crawled into the bed and hugged her. They stayed like that for a very long time, and at some point Liana actually felt better. She wasn't really alone after all, she had Liam.

When they both got up she hugged him so hard she almost squeezed him. "Thank you" she said. Liam just smiled and said "Everything is going to be ok".

Time passed, and Liana's wounds started to heal, but thing still weren't easy without Steven. Liana was very busy with her job, which now started at 2 pm, and that meant Liam had to come back from school to an empty home. He did his homework, played games on the computer (he certinatly inherited his mother's love for computer games), sometimes went to his friends' house or invited them over to his house, and in the evening he ate meals Liana already made and kept in the fridge. They were delicious of course, but nothing beats eating the food fresh and not microwaved, and eating with someone and not alone.

Another area in which Steven's absence was noticed was the repairs. The computer broke and Liana had to fix it all by herself. Fortunately both the computer and Liana survived.

Liam's birthday came, and he invited his family and friends to the cinema. They had an amazing time.

He obviously invited his father, which made him worry that there would be tension between him and Liana, but the whole party went smooth. Steven sat quietly during the movie, staying away from Liana to not spoil this day for her, but after it Liam came to him. It was the first time Liam saw him after what happened. His father looked afraid, terrified that Liam was still angry about him. Then Liam pulled something out of his pocket. "Captain Hero, you left him at our place when you left" he offered the action figure to his father and smiled.

Steven was speechless. "It's ok, you can keep him. He would be happier with you". Liam laughed and Steven smiled too, but then his face became serious and he looked at Liam in the eyes. "I'm sorry, for everything. I shouldn't have betrayed your mother's trust like that and I certinatly shouldn't have got you involved".

"It's alright. You shouldn't have done it, and I still feel angry, but you're my father and I love you". Liam said and then he and his father hugged a tight, long hug.

And... The time has come for our little Liam to age. But he really isn't really that little kid anymore. Everything that happened lately truly matured him. He supported his mother, stayed on his own, and despite all of this still managed to be an A student! Liam grew strong and smart and resourceful, and he learnt some lessons that he'll carry for the rest of his life. And now he's ready to start a new part of his life as a teen.

And this is how Liam looks like! Handsome don't you think? You can definitely see some of his father's features in him.

By the way, everyone already knew he was genius, but now it's official. And after what happened with his parents he's not really planning to get married quicly, so right now his aspiration is Serial Romantic!

Now that Liam is older, and she's freshly single, it's time for Liana to take more care of herself. She became good friends with Lily Rose (Anna's mom), so they went to the gym together.

And that was not all of it, she also got herself a makeover! She even got red tips, to bring out her wild side again. In the picture she's demonstrating her outfit while fixing the TV, since she got a little better in the whole repair thing.

Another thing that got a makeover is Liam's room. His old room wasn't really fitting his age anymore, so I redecorated it with a color that suits a teenager. Liam took advantage of the room right away and did his extra credit work, with Liana's help.

Some time passed, and Liana's birthday came! All of her friends and of course the most precious person to her, Liam, were there with her as she aged up.

It was not easy for her, finding out that the person she trusted was not worthy of her trust, and then having to learn to live on her own, and she still wasn't completely ok. But as she looked at the people who love her and came to celebrate her birthday with her, she knew she truly wasn't alone, and that she would be ok, eventually.

By the way, if you're wondering what is different in the picture, then the answer is it's the kitchen. Yep, the makeover spree has not stopped yet. Liana got promoted, which meant new cabins, which meant I had the opportunity to revamp the kitchen. It even has now the modern island in the middle of the kitchen thing that everyone use in their builds.

One day after school Liam went to the house of a new friend, Sky Hedrick. He moved to Newcrest recently and they only met at school a few days earlier but already became great friends.

When they arrived and Liam saw the house the first thing he said was "woah", because it was a really nice house. Not a mansion or anything but certinatly nicer than his house. Sky told him that this house belongs to his uncle. He used to be the CEO of a big company, but left because he didn't feel happy in the cold business world. He donated most of his money to charity and with what left bought a house in the small town of Newcrest, where he plans to grow and sell vegetable on the farmers' market. He let Sky and his mother join him because she heard of the great highschool here and there was no way he would let them spend their money on a house when he could let then stay with him. When they entered the house Liam met Sky's mother, Lora. He noticed she was very young, but he decided not to ask any question about it. She greeted them and said she was very happy to see Sky already having a friend here. Then his uncle Ben arrived and he greeted them too. Liam and Sky did their homework first, and then played in the computer for a little bit. And they obviously took advantage of the big pool. When the evening came Ben made hamburgers for all of them and they ate outside. The conversation was flowing and Liam really enjoyed Sky's family. Especially Ben, who he noticed was crazily smart, funny, and not at all bad looking from what he could tell. That raised an idea in his mind.

It was finally the weekend, and in Saturday night he went with Sky to the Rattlesnake Juice. There he saw a beautiful girl sitting at the bar. He remembered seeing her in school, her name was Simone Gilmore. He approached her and they started talking. To his surprise she laughed at his bad jokes and loved hearing about his favorite shows. They talked for a while and danced, and he didn't even feel the time passing. He didn't know if it was just all that juice or she was really interested in him, but he got over his fear, took a deep breath and asked her out. She said yes!

In Sunday morning he did something he didn't have the chance to do yet- he went to his father's new house to see his half sibling! Steven's career took a sudden turn for the better when an agent saw him playing in one of the parks. He arranged some concerts for him and soon Steven found himself a star! And he even had enough money to buy a small but beautiful house, suitable for raising a child. When the baby was born, a lovely girl called Micaela. Steven invited Rose and little Micaela to live with him, since Rose's house was a bit crowded because she was living with roommates. It was just for the sake of their daughter, nothing romantic... Or so they thought. Because quickly they found that they were unable to stay away from each other and their relationship started again. Liam was at first angry when he heard it, but he saw how his dad's eyes were shining when he talked about it and he realized that they really are in love.

So Liam met Rose again, this time in a little more appropriate situation than the one when he first saw her, and he met Micaela! Time moved fast, and she was already so big!

Alright so actually I forgot that it takes so little time for babies to age in the game and missed Micaela's baby stage completely. But she looks adorable in this sweater so you'll forgive me right?

The only problem was that the little girl was... Well... Insane. But at least she's cute.

In that night he took Simone for that date he promised her. They went to a cute little bakery that was just opened (Willow Creek Cafe by kesonkes If you want it). Liam noticed that this was a perfect place for a date, and saved it in his mind for later. They had the most amazing evening.

After the date Simone walked with him to his house since it was on the way to hers. And right there, in front of the door, they kissed. It was the most magical moment of his life so far.

And what about Liana? Well a few days later she received a text from Liam telling her to meet him at the new bakery after he finishes school, except he didn't show up. As she sat there and waited she heard a warm voice from behind her.

"Hello, can I sit with you?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm waiting for my son, he's supposed to come any second".

"Oh really? I'm waiting for my nephew, he told me to meet him here".

"Your nephew? Is he going to the school here?"

"Yeah he just enrolled, his name is Sky".

Liana laughed. She started to understand what happened. "That's the name of my son's friend".

"Oh you're Liam's mother?" He asked. When she nodded he laughed too. "Well I suppose we've both been set up. But we did got all the way to here, I suggest I could order us both a cup of coffee and we could enjoy this lovely place a little longer, what do you think about that?".

Liana smiled. "Who would refuse a free cup of coffee? I'm Liana spark by the way" she said and extended her hand.

"Ben Hedrick".

"It's very nice to meet you Ben".

Update 3 - Growing Up

Steven didn't spent a lot of time with Liam lately, so he made it up for him and took him with him after school to his work. He usually goes to parks and clubs but he decided to do something new and go to a store this time. It proved to be a great idea- a lot of people took a small break from their shopping and payed a little to hear Steven play, and Liam proudly watched his dad doing what he's good at.

After that Liam was hungry so they went to The Blue Velvet and Steven ordered chips for Liam, and a drink for himself. When Liam got sleepy Steven told him to wait until he would finish his drink, so poor Liam napped on the sofa. It's a shame, Steven started really good on the 'good father' scale that day, but didn't manage to keep up.

Speaking of which, it became sort of a habit for Steven to invite Rose over when Liana went to work. Liam was busy in his hobby of trying to find every possible rock in the universe so Steven and Rose used this opportunity to do... You know what... For the very first time. Everything was perfect... Until Liam came back home unexpectedly.

"Daddy look what I foun... WHAT THE HELL?!?"

After Liam ran from the room Steven lashed out at Rose. He accused her that she convinced him to sleep with her while there was a chance Liam would come back.
But then Rose burst out. She can't come there while Liam is at school because Liana is home than, and she can't come when Liana is working because then his son is home, so when exactly are they supposed to see each other? Or is he too busy with his family to spend time with her? Maybe it was a mistake to date a married man.

Steven sighed "I'm sorry, I was just upset and I blamed you. You couldn't know that he will come back. I couldn't either".

Rose tried to continue to be upset but there was something about Steven, she couldn't stay mad at him for too long.

She left after Steven promised to call her soon, but then Steven had to take out the other fire. He found Liam watching TV in the living room. He sat next to him and explained that what Liam saw was a mistake. He didn't mean it and he loves his mother. "Please don't tell her about it. It can be our little secret, right?". "Right....".

The next day bill day came again, but this time Liana and Steven were ready! Just a short click on the computer and that silly thing was payed. Oh, and by the way look at Liana's new look! I'm super proud of myself at that one.

The reason why the financial situation got a bit better is Liana, who is skyrocketing through her career, and got promoted, again, to a mixologist. I looked at her career panel and it said that her next job will be a Line Cook. Isn't it weird, to get promoted from a cook to a mixologist and than to a cook again? Sims 4 career system, I swear.

Liana also finally reached level 5 of the cooking skill and started working on her gourmet cooking skill. She made garlic noodles even though they still had regular pasta in the fridge. But everyone knows that there is never such thing as enough pasta.

Things seemed to go well at the Spark's residence in general. When Steven went to the park again he made more than 100 simoleons! Looks like when you're not horrible people are actually willing to pay you money.

After he came back home and Liam came back from school Steven helped him with his homework while Liana ate a brownie before work and look proudly at her husband and son.

But little did she know that things were not as they seemed. The minute she went to work Liam left and went to his room. Steven didn't have much to do but to wonder around the house and upgrade some of the things. Maybe partly because of the guilt he felt.

When the evening came Liam had no choice but to emerge to the living room to eat. He sat awkwardly next to his dad and ate his dinner.

"Is everything alright son?" Steven asked him.

Liam sighed. "I'm not going to tell mom about what you did, but it doesn't mean I approve it".

"Oh you're still angry about that? I told you it was a mistake! A one time thing!"

Liam looked at his father. He wanted to believe him, he really did, but he wasn't sure he could. He finished his dinner silently and went to his room.

Speaking of which, A little more money earned by Liana and I could more or less finish Liam's room. It came out pretty nice I think, and I put there all the things he collected. I couldn't afford a computer, but he has one in the living room and I'll get to it at some point. It's a shame he's aging up soon, cause then I'll have to revamp the whole thing.

One day Liam brought over his friends from school, Kaith (the kid from the park in the previous update) and Anne Rose. Anne is from a family I downloaded to the town, The Sweet Family by HarrietElison. The kids did their homework and then played together and in the evening Lianna made dinner to all of them.

Anna apparently thought she was being helpful by picking up the trash... And throwing it on the ground right in the middle of the living room.

But even after such a great day, Liam still couldn't really sleep. He told his father he won't tell his mom about what he did, but he couldn't bear having this giant secret. And his mom deserved to know. But he couldn't fail his dad, who he loves even though he's angry at him, and he didn't want to see everything around him collapse. What should he do?

He decided to set his mind off the subject and just have fun for these few days. Liana's new mixologist position gave her three days off of work each week, which means she and her family could have some well deserved fun in the afternoons. In the first day off that week Liam's friends came over, and in the second one Liana, Steven and Liam went to the cinema (Chompy's Movie Park by Drutruvuilder If you're wandering)! They all watched a silly kids movie, and afterwards Liana made some burgers while Liam played on the monkey bars, and then they all ate. It was a truly fun day.

And the third day was just as fun, beause it was Steven's birthday! His family and closest friends (and a bunch of other people he sort of knows because he doesn't have a lot of friends and a party with 5 people looks lame) went to celebrate with him in the newest club. I downloaded this night club too (what can I say, I got bored of the venues that came with the game), and it's called Club 46 by feroo-91.

Steven danced while Liana was responsible for the drinks. And don't worry, Liam had something to do as well, because the place had giant TVs and Liana brought all sorts of food for the guests.

And... Surrounded by his family and friends, Steven became an adult.

Here we have Liana blowing a kiss to Steven, but for some reason he looks at Jonney Zest which makes the whole thing really weird.

The party lasted until the small hours of the night, so naturally Liana and Steven woke up late (poor Liam didn't have that privilege and had to get up for school). After eating breakfast together Steven went to the park to earn some money.

And that's when the door bell rang.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Rose, and I have something to tell you".