The Ryman LegacyChapter 2A – The Joys of

Children• Too many children• Too little money

But what else is new?

By Mzyra

Marina

Sean

Kimmy

The Ryman household as it always is – under-furnished, under-decorated and over-populated, especially with children. The twins now being toddlers had made this even worse, but luckily Birch’s advancement within the culinary career meant that he had more days off to help out.

The parents were stressed and the twins were happy with the attention – Marina mostly wound up being ignored.

*Daddy painted a picture of grilled cheese because he wants it, maybe if I paint a picture of a kitty Mummy and Daddy will get the hint and buy me one!*

Marina was sadly over-optimistic as most children are.

But Marina discovered that she could get attention if she behaved well at school, however.

“People actually spoke to me! It was amazing! I’m going to bring people home every day so I get some real attention!”

And she practically did.

Carla still led the child-rearing effort and occasionally found time to interact with Marina, but couldn’t leave behind her ability to attract weirdos, which had apparently expanded beyond weird university dormies to weird, married adult sims. This was when being busy with three small children was definitely a blessing rather than a little bit of a curse.

But despite how difficult it was looking after just three children, old habits die hard and some people never learn.

Sean: I wanted to play in that toilet…

Meanwhile Birch mostly enjoyed skilling with anyone who came by, which tended to be the children Marina brought home hoping to get attention. Having your friends play with your Dad rather than you was not something Marina appreciated, but Birch never seemed to get the hint.

“So… When you get your hair cut like that do they literally put a bowl on your head or what? Surely that can’t be hygienic…”

It probably would have been better if Birch played chess with other adults, but they seemed more distracted by the toddlers, or at least Stephen Tinker did.

“Awww, I wish my wife and I could have some more children, they’re so cute at this age…”

Kimmy: This man’s big and weird…

“OW! Ah, she hit my finger! I think it’s broken!”

“Ehehe!”

Marina finally managed to claw her friend back out of her father’s chess-playing grasp.

“I can’t wait until we’re teenagers and then we’ll be able to drive away places and stuff.”

“You don’t like being around your family? I would. It’s nicer here than the downtownie orphanage.”

“I like family, but this one’s lame and I never get any attention! I’m going to have my own family one day and I’ll be the Mummy and everyone will give me lots and lots of attention and love me loads.”

“And I’ll be the Daddy and earn lots of money that you can spend to make people love you even more!”

Neither child seemed to contemplate what they’d just said very deeply…

As for the Mummy of the current family, she loved raising her kids, stressful as it was. Birch mostly just stood around, blank-faced, day-dreaming about grilled cheese.

And Carla once again failed to be a child’s first word. Sean seemed more interested in toys and things.

“Want teddy!”

“But wouldn’t you rather prefer a mother’s love that is ever-lasting-?”

“NO! TEDDY!”

But Carla would have at least one more chance at having a child appreciate her, even though it was so far from being economically sensible that it was actually ridiculous.

“I’m going to have to financially support this one as well, aren’t I?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Are you sure it’s not Stephen or Simon’s?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh. That’s good, I guess…”

With Carla being drained by another future child, Birch had to finish up teaching Kimmy her skills. She’d apparently been listening to her twin brother.

“Teddy?”

“Well, while teddies can be nice, I’ll tell you about something much better Kimmy: grilled cheese sandwiches. You take two slices of bread, put some cheese slices between them, then put them in a frying pan for a little while… The cheese will be so soft and warm, the bread crispy brown… It is the closest thing to perfection you will ever find.”

*Stare* “…”

“Mommy! I have a real and actual reason for you to like me!”

“Marina, I always like and love you! I’m just busy a lot, that’s all…”

“Yeah, whatever – but I got an A+!”

“Hooray! Well done! That means you’ll be able to help your little brother and sister when they start school!”

“… Can’t I have a kitten instead?”

“No. But that’s still great!”

*Grumbles*

*Grumbles* “I wonder if I could trade one of the twins for somebody else’s pet at school…”

Birch had gone back to work and Carla was increasingly pregnant, but luckily the twins were able to entertain themselves for hours by this point, even if the constant xylophone bashing drove Marina crazy.

“I wonder what it would be like to be an only child…”

Her life was better than some people’s, though.

“Oh my gosh it’s fresh air! Ahhhh, can’t get enough!”

Jane Huffman eventually hyperventilated to the point that she passed out, which was a real signal as to how bad the home for underage downtownies was. If the politicians weren’t all so corrupt something might have been done about it. But that’s politics for you.

Luckily Jane awoke again before she froze – it was the dead of Winter and all of the countryside was covered in a thick layer of snow, which managed to make the Ryman house look a little bit better, but not by much. It could never make it look like there might be windows…

“Hi little child! You like me don’t you? You’d like me to be your big sister, wouldn’t you? Please get your parents to adopt me, I can’t go back to that place!”

“Ehehe!”

“OW! You bit me!”

“Hehe!”

“… I guess at least we don’t have toddlers back home…”

“I thought you said this was a game?”

“It is! I got it from the game area of the department store.”

“Games are meant to be like toys. This does NOT count as a toy.”

“The only toys we have are xylophones for toddlers, so you can either go and play with Kimmy and risk getting bitten or hit, or you can play chess with me.”

“Fine.”

*Awkward silence*

“So, do you like grilled cheese?”

Finally, after what felt like far too long, it was the twins’ birthday. Sean grew up first being the eldest, whilst Carla and Marina looked at each other in relief that that ordeal was finally over. Birch would have been there, staring off into the distance whilst thinking about cheese, but he was at work staring off into the distance thinking about grilled cheese.

All of a sudden Sean had inexplicably grown two foot and was the same size as Marina, though what was more amazing was the luck which he had in growing into a good outfit, as Marina had done, since the family could not in any way afford new wardrobes for anyone yet, so they were stuck with what they got for the full 7 days until they transitioned again, or until Birch started earning a decent amount of money.

By the time Kimmy had decided she was ready to grow up, Birch had arrived home and Marina had tried to go to bed, but Kimmy threw such a loud tantrum at the idea that anyone was ignoring her birthday, that Marina got up again. She wouldn’t even let Celeste Wong leave, even though her curfew had passed, not that Celeste was complaining.

Kimmy once again demonstrated a surprising ability to have a good transition outfit, even if it really wasn’t appropriate for her personality, but then that may have been part of her plan to mislead people until they were close enough to get bitten or hit.

“Come on Dad, you have to be able to teach me how to do homework! Dads normally their sons stuff, don’t they?”

“I could teach you all about cheese-”

“It’s maths, Dad.”

“I can teach you the formula to work out when your sandwich is perfectly cooked-”

“Daaaaaaaaaad, I don’t want to be a chef - I want a good job so I can earn lots of money and have a race car bed and stuff!”

“… You have a choice of learning from a chef or a full-time mother both of whom dropped out of college, take your pick.”

“Mom, how are we going to afford another baby? There’s no room!”

“Now Sean,-”

“I’m not sharing my sandwich with some baby!”

“Babies don’t eat sandwiches, Kimmy. The sandwiches are almost as big as they are.”

“Thank you Marina. Look kids, we’ll get by somehow. You may have to share some stuff, but you all love each other don’t you?”

*General grumbling*

“I’m going to sell this painting for thousands of simoleons and then I’ll be able to buy a gameboy!”

“Sean sweetheart, you can’t expect people to pay that much money for paintings yet, you have to be a really talented artist or very famous-”

“I’m not talented?”

“Well, uh, everyone improves over time…”

“How else do people earn money then?”

“Well, when you’re older you could start a business- Where are you going Sean?”

“Hey sisters! I have a great, amazing idea for how we can be billionaires by next week!”

“I think it takes more than a week for that to happen, Sean.”

“We have to aim for the stars! Or at least the moon or something.”

“Is the moon really made of cheese? I hope it is…”

“I don’t think so, Kimmy, but the idea that we’re going to be rich next week sounds just as realistic.”

“Oh we so will, just you wait and see. I’ll show you my amazing idea as soon as it arrives…”

~ A little time and a delivery later (during which the outside of the house was made to look like actual brick!) ~

“Tadaaah! It’s a lemonade stand! I think we’ll take like $10 today, then $100 tomorrow, then $1000 after that, then soon we’ll be making billions! That’s how businesses work!”

“Uhoh…”

“Hehehe! Sean’s an idiot!”

“Kimmy! Look, it’s a nice idea Sean, but I really don’t think it’s going to-” but the look on Sean’s face tugged at Marina’s nice points. “I guess we might as well give it a go, though.”

“Hehehe, you’re both stupid! I’m going to go do something that isn’t dumb, bye losers!”

“Yeah, thanks a lot Kimmy…”

“Just the perfect balance of water, sugar and lemon… I wish I’d stuck with learning from Dad rather than Mum now.”

“Excuse me, I don’t suppose you’d like-”

Lady in pink: Ignore the sweet children, ignore the sweet children, you’ll be better off when you’re not violently ill…

“Adults are lame. I’m not sure we’re going to get much business, Sean. And it doesn’t count if Mum and Dad buy some since their money is our money already.”

“No, no it’ll be great! It just starts slow and builds up, that’s all.”

Meanwhile Kimmy found herself entertained all day by watching her brother’s unsuccessful efforts from nearby whilst reading one of her father’s cookery books.

“Ehehehehe…. Sean and ‘Rina are so stupid…”

She eventually found herself distracted eventually, though.

“Hmmm, if the moon’s made of cheese and there’s an eclipse, does it become grilled cheese because of the Sun…?”

The day’s efforts weren’t a complete waste, however, even when Marina went inside to have lunch, leaving Sean alone. A local chef who knew Birch decided to give Sean the benefit of the doubt.

“Hey, this lemonade’s quite good, kid. Have you considered going into the culinary business? You might be able to build up your own brand if you’re dedicated already.”

“I was kind of hoping to get rich soon actually.”

“Ah, well most chefs don’t earn that well unless they become big celebrities, but if all you care about is the money you might as well be a regular celebrity.”

“Nah, it’s okay, I’ll have earned lots of money doing this by the time I’m a teenager!”

“Oh. Yeah, okay. Good luck with that.”

Sean sat out for a good ten hours until darkness fell, the red headed chef being his only customer and soon people stopped walking by altogether, though he never stopped looking. Even Kimmy had stopped laughing and gone inside. Sean had only made one simoleon. Even if numbers doubled he’d only make two simoleons tomorrow and then he’d have to go to school again and he wouldn’t be able to make hardly anything. Rina was right – it wasn’t a good idea. Kimmy was right – he was stupid.

Sean cleaned up the lemonade, only just not crying and headed into the warmth of the house.

“So how did it go in the end, Sean? I would have come back out to help, but you know, homework and stuff…”

“Don’t want to talk about it,” he sniffed.

“You okay, bro?” Marina had become quite attached to the twins since they stopped being so small and annoying.

“It’s fine. It was a stupid idea anyway. I’ll just go back to painting worthless paintings instead…”

Marina may have cared, but she wasn’t sure what to say. She was only a kid too.

Oblivious to her children’s issues, Carla soon found herself in labour once more. She’d forgotten how much it hurt, but just held on to her hope that it couldn’t be twins again – she loved them, but they were seriously stressful.

Luckily it was just the one child this time – a little girl who so far looked just like Sean.

“Oh great, as if we weren’t poor enough already…”

“Aw, hello there sweetheart! What do you say to the name Nicola?”

*Burble*

Marina was a lot more excited about the arrival. Now that she could play with the twins properly she could appreciate smaller siblings as more than just a distraction for her parents.

“Yay, a little sister! Come on Sean, she looks like you, you can be best friends and stuff!”

“Yeah, I guess so. Just so long as she’s nicer than Kimmy…”

“Well, that’s not difficult, is it? Haha.”

“Hang on, what are you kids saying about Kimmy?”

“Nothing Mum…”

Marina knew that a little sister hadn’t been enough to cheer him up though and resolved to make things better the next day.

“What are you doing ‘Rina? I told you I know it’s a bad idea, you don’t have to waste your time.”

“Just because it’s not going to make us rich doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, Seany. It just means you appreciate whatever you make more. Every little bit helps and stuff. We can do shifts and stuff and it can be practice for when we’re older and you’ll be a successful businessman who really is a billionaire!”

He gave in a little and smiled at this. “I just wish it wouldn’t take so long to make money…”

Marina had been excited to have another little sibling, but Kimmy, used to being the youngest, took it very differently.

“Would you stop crying all the freaking time! It’s not going to help! And when are you going to learn to use the toilet?! The rest of us can, it’s not difficult, you stupid-head!”

“Kimmy, stop shouting at your little sister!”

“But she stinks and she won’t shut up!”

“Then she needs changing, just wait a minute and I’ll deal with her!”

“Can’t we give her up for adoption or something instead? She can go live with Jane!”

“NO, Kimmy.”

Kimmy often found reasons to throw tantrums, but then she couldn’t remember how things used to be and therefore how much better she had it.

With some more money coming in (that Carla and Birch pretended the kids’ lemonade stand had contributed significantly to, even though it hadn’t) and the kids getting older, they’d had some bedrooms built. Marina, not being too far from being a teenager, had a small bedroom to herself, while the twins shared a slightly larger one. Sean wasn’t thrilled at this prospect – he still felt resentful over the lemonade stand and Kimmy had got to pick the colour of the bedroom when he wanted green. Being a twin sucked.

The parents had also cleverly not given the kids’ bedrooms actual doors, anticipating trouble, though that had then generated questions when their bedroom did have a door. What on earth could their parents be doing in their bedroom that the kids couldn’t do in theirs and that they couldn’t see? It hadn’t made any sense or seemed fair to them, but neither Carla nor Birch particularly wanted to go through explaining it…

It was possible that it might have been more prudent to invest the bedroom money elsewhere, especially when there was still only one bathroom – with no walls, so technically not a room at all – among five and it would only be so long before Nicola would be sharing it too. And that wasn’t counting the number of visitors Birch and the kids brought home from school and work. And, of course, Kimmy had a habit of utilising the bathroom for less than necessary purposes when others needed to use it.

“Ahoy there landlubber! None shall use the bath unless they give me ten gold doubloons! …Or a sandwich! And it can’t be burnt!”

Largely the parents tried to ignore some of their children’s strange behaviour – Birch focused on his work, Carla focused on the child who was still too young to act strange. It was so nice when the child was too young to be running around crazily or talk back. She wished Nicola would stay this small. Otherwise they might need to have another…

“This is booooooooooring!”

“Shut up Kimmy, homework’s important!”

“Yeah, if you’re stupid, like you!”

“Kids, stop arguing! Sean don’t tell your sister to shut up and Kimmy stop calling Sean stupid! And you have to do your work if you want to go to college or have a good job.”

“And what if I don’t?!” Kimmy challenged.

“You still have to!”

“If I’m going to do this can somebody please shut up and change the baby already?! I’m getting a headache and it stinks.”

The moments when the older kids had gone to sleep were blissful in the Ryman household – Carla and Birch had come to regret the decision to put the twins together in a small room once it had been established that they could kick each other even from their beds, leading to fights and arguments whenever bedtime rolled around. They knew Marina was quieter and more peaceful too, but whenever she was awake the twins were too, so there was little time to appreciate her. But later at night, Nicola burbled quietly, looking cute with her big blue eyes and smile and the parents greatly wished children were always like that.

Marina knew how her parents felt and felt bad for Sean – he often got a bad rep even at school because Kimmy was always getting into trouble and he was often at the receiving end of that trouble and, while he was usually quite nice, he couldn’t be expected to take all of her taunting and mild violence without reacting sometimes.

So Rina made sure to spend time with him doing stuff they both enjoyed, especially active stuff, which in their household was limited to skipping, but it was something Kimmy wasn’t bothered about, so it was perfect for Sean. But Rina couldn’t help the feeling that Sean seemed to be getting sadder and sadder. She just tried to make him feel better by helping him come up with schemes of how to get rich.

Sadly for Birch and Carla, Nicola’s baby years came to an end, while they dreaded the prospect of another child running around fighting with its siblings. They just had to hope she’d be nice…

Whatever else Nicola might have been, she was definitely her father’s daughter, just like the rest of her siblings and, most especially, Sean.

But the difference between her and Kimmy was quickly established with relief by an anxious Sean and Marina – Nicola was about as shy as the rest of them, but whereas Kimmy would try to bite you if you got too close when she was a toddler, Nicola quickly grasped on to the idea of hugging and wouldn’t let go of it – much like she wouldn’t let go when she hugged you. She was just as sweet and adorable as she had been as a baby, but with less crying and smelling. She practically seemed like an angel.

*Maybe if I sell this picture of a house for enough money we’ll be able to get a proper one!*

~End of 2A~

*Gasp* They’ve actually had 5 children and Kimmy gave one up for adoption!

This downtownie would actually fit in perfectly with the family, hence he can’t marry in (yet) because it would be creepy. And genetically boring.

Anyway: Please tell me they’ve had enough children now?! Will they ever have more than one bathroom? Will Kimmy turn out/stop being evil? Who will be heir? (You tell me! – but not yet…)