A Letter from The Maker. Saying Goodbye to a Legacy.

I want to thank you all for staying with me through the events that have lead up to the birth of generation 10.  I never could have anticipated that anyone would ever read or care about the Montgomery Family. 

Before the conception of generation 10, Glenna got into my head and begged me to tell her story.  She really didn't want 10 generations to mean nothing.  As she began to tell me her story, it became apparent to me that I had no choice but to let my sims do what I've so bucked against. I was going to have to let their voices be heard.

It is very bittersweet to me.  I am glad to know that the Montgomery family is going to be around with me for some time yet. I couldn't have been prepared for the loss and destruction of much else that I love and hold dear. 

As you could probably tell from the last chapter, real changes are happening in  my game.  You haven't even seen half of the devastation that awaits my sims. 

I can only make you this promise,  I will try to do right by the Montgomery name and to honor them in every way that I can as I proceed (cautiously) with their new reality. 

I can hope that my faithful friends and readers will rally around me during this transition and comfort me when I mourn the loss of favorite sims and try to rebuild their lives. 

In light of difficult times, I would like to share with you favorite memories from the last ten generations.  I have held these sim close to my heart. They have truly made me a better simmer.  Where I once scoffed at those that stopped to listen to the voice of their sims, I now find that one truly needs to have an open ear and an open heart. Let them tell their story, no matter how much it hurts me to see their pain.  This new era is about them. Though my heart is breaking, it is because I've finally learned to to let my sims have their voice and to let it be heard.

Heidi Ariana: Generation 9 Chapter 3

Glenna's long awaited birthday has finally arrived and the Montgomery family is elated that grandma Scarlet has lived to see the event.   James convinced Glenna to skip her last day of school and also arranged for Gammora to take a vacation day as well.

With guests arriving, James put the finishing touches on the birthday cake and everyone fell silent as Glenna blew out the candles. 

The party was called short though when the family started feeling under the weather.  Coughing, sneezing, fever, nausea, this illness came on fast and with no warning.

 

Hours after this mysterious illness started, the first casualty took place.  Twelve year old Gammorra was in her room when suddenly she burst into flames.  Despite the family's best efforts to extinguish the fire, Gammora perished from her injuries.

The entire family was stunned but there was no time to grieve.  Scarlet was feeling unwell and left the room to go lay down when suddenly, she was engulfed in flames.

Thankfully, the butler was able to put out the blaze but the whole thing is puzzling.  There's no explanation for these two cases of spontaneous combustion.

With the entire family grieving and Scarlet recovering from her near miss, James decided to take a shower to try to clear his mind and to make sense of everything that had transpired.

Halfway through his shower, James noticed a strange burning coming from his core and before he knew it, flames were licking at his body.  The water did nothing to contain the inferno. 

His heart broken family could do nothing but watch him succumb to his fatal injuries as he collapsed on the cold hard floor.

Strange things are happening. Could this be the beginning of the end?  Could this have been what Ariana and James predicted?  Only time will tell.

Heidi Ariana: Generation 9 Chapter 2

Life might be blinking for Scarlet but she's snarled at death and so far he has kept away.  She has reached the top of the astronaut career, maxed a ton of skills and she got to meet her newest grandbaby!

Remember how Ariana promised James that she would go to the hospital and have a specialist deliver her baby? Well, that didn't happen.  One evening she was busy coaching Glenna and labor pains started.  The baby was coming fast and there was no time to make it to the hospital. 

Little Gamorra Lee joined the family after a very quick and uneventful home birth! Ariana didn't even have time to change out of her Lab clothes!

James was relieved that everything went well with the delivery and has been over the moon with his new daughter.  Ariana, though she was also relieved, feels so confused by her birth experiences. Why was her labor and delivery so different from her first?   Glenna's birth had been so scary.  It didn't help that a drug-induced haze clouded what memories she had of that day.   It seems that no matter how hard she tried the only memory she could conjure was that of unforgiving red eyes staring back at her.

Ariana was quick to push down any misgivings that she had from her traumatic birth and focus on what a beautiful blessing Glenna has been to her and James.  Goodness knows that Glenna has been the absolutely pride and joy of  their life.

James, Ariana and Scarlet have all coached and drilled Glenna on how to survive in the world.  Every day has found them studying and working hard to build her skill points. 

By the evening of her 13th birthday, Glenna had already accomplished much more than some adults!

Little Gamorra also aged up. She celebrated her birthday several hours after Glenna which always makes me nervous that the birthday curse is going to strike. I think we all know by now how birthdays end in the Montgomery house!

Glenna is the doting big sister. She absolutely adores Gamorra and spends as much times as she can helping her with her toddler skills.

Time passed all too quickly and little Gamorra grew into a child.  Don't ask me how but I forgot her birthday.  Perhaps it was a blessing though because oddly enough, Scarlet is still alive to see her age up.  Her life bar has been blinking for ever so long!

Glenna is still working on maxing out skills and aspirations.  She has now completed the following aspirations: bodybuilder,freelance,botanist  and mansion barron

Additionally she has maxed charisma,cooking,fitness,gardening,logic and piano.  

This girl is absolutely committed to preparing herself for whatever it is her mom and dad is convinced will happen.  Her mom is always there to mentor her and help her achieve her goals and to remind her how important it is to stay focused.

Whatever the future has in store, Glenna is going to be prepared. Through hard work and perseverance, there's nothing much she isn't capable of.

We are inching ever so closer to the day when Glenna turns into a young adult.   Will Scarlet miraculously survive to see her granddaughter celebrate her birthday?  It would be nothing short of a miracle but she's already proving to be one hardy grandma! 

Heidi Ariana: Generation 9 Chapter 1

It was a day for birthdays and luckily, no one died.  Scarlet aged to elder and little Glenna aged to toddler.  Can't believe how fast that happened!
 

Scarlet is now level 9 in the astronaut career and close to her next promotion so she's done very well for herself. Since she's an elder I'm not entirely sure she'll max out her career but part of that is because of how much time she has taken to help skill up her daughter and now her granddaughter.

The entire family has jumped in and helped educate Glenna. Daddy was on flash cards. Mom read stories and helped with blocks and Scarlet did most of the potty training.

I'm pleased to report that Glenna grew up with every single toddler skill maxed out.  The Montgomery family definitely had cause to celebrate as she aged from toddler to child.

Ariana and James wasted no time in getting Glenna started in on her skills right away.  We have a system going on with James playing chess with her and Ariana is looking on to mentor her.

Of course, Ariana isn't forgetting to keep educating herself either.  After much hard work, she earned a promotion! She's now a Laboratory Leader at the FutureSim Lab.

Likewise, Glenna became a B student and James was promoted to Detective.   With the family doing so well, Ariana began to long for another baby.

James wasn't too eager for Ariana to go through all that she had with Glenna but he agreed to it on the condition that she see a high-risk doctor from the start and not even attempt a home birth.  Ariana agreed to James' terms and they set about trying for a baby...everywhere.

Trying for a baby was a success and Ariana and James were so excited. I swear, these two are the cutest!

Both of them are hoping that Scarlet lives long enough to meet her second grandchild. She's rather old but so far she doesn't show any signs of slowing down. In fact, she's very close to finally maxing out her career and she has unlocked an amazing amount of traits and rewards. If anything, she just gets grumpy that she gets tired more easily or she'd still be rushing through to master everything!

Here's to hoping that Scarlet gets her wish and gets to meet the newest Montgomery baby!

Scarlet Alexa: Generation 8 Chapter 4

Our last chapter left off with our two science-nerds consummating their marriage in outer space.

All I know is, Ariana and James have set some pretty high standards for a geeky first woohoo. 

This is for all of you science-freaks...don't settle for candles or closets for that first time together.

Nope, you want to be among the stars.  If you can't do it in space, don't do it at all. 

Their attempts to have a baby was a success. Generation 10 is on it's way!  James was so very excited when Ariana broke the news.

The pregnancy for Ariana was very uneventful and before I knew it, she was in labor.  Something was wrong though...this wasn't right.  She called for James and requested that he take her to the hospital.

James got her to the hospital in record time. Dr. Mirabella Grimm (who I hear is one of the best) was on call to access her and ultimately it was decided that if the lives of mom and baby both were to be spared, an emergency cesarean was needed.

As this was an emergency surgery and not a routine delivery, James was not allowed in the delivery room.  I really thought he was going to go crazy waiting to hear  if Ariana and the baby were okay.  Marriage for them had been so fast but already, the thought of losing her was more than he could bear.

The last thing Ariana remembered was the erratic beeping of the heart monitors and the sound of the doctor telling her that her baby would be born soon.  Then, all went black.

Glenna Elise made her way earthside and was placed into the arms of her loving father.  Things for Ariana were still not looking good and James never left her side. His wife and daughter were all that mattered.

Day by day he sat by her bedside and held her hand, brushed her hair from her face and cared for little Glenna.

"That's your mama," he would say as he lifted Glenna to his shoulder so she could get a glance.  Then he would promise her that mama would certainly get better and they would be a family.

Three weeks after giving birth, Ariana opened her eyes.  She was ready to go home to meet her little girl.   Little Glenna had already made the trip home where Grammy Scarlet and her daddy had been taking turns caring for her.

A daughter—Ariana had a daughter. She had been so convinced that she was going to have a little boy.  The moment that Ariana walked into the nursery and her mom handed her baby Glenna, she knew that her life would never be the same. This precious baby girl held her heart and all of her hopes for the future. Nothing could have prepared her for the love she felt at that moment.

Ariana had grappled with death and fought her way back to her home—her family. The support and love of her family had gotten her through some of the darkest hours and now she was ready to take the responsibility of raising the next generation of Montgomery children into adulthood.

Scarlet, though not yet elder, knows her daughter is ready to take her places as the heir of the Montgomery family.  At 4:30 P.M. on  February 25, Scarlet signed over all deeds and titles to the Montgomery home and relinquished the title of matriarch to beautiful daughter, Ariana.   She has promised to be by her daughter's side, to aid her in any way that she can in training Glenna to survive the apocalyptic doom that James and Ariana fear is in the near future. 

It is a race against the clock. Will James and Ariana succeed in preparing their daughter for the apocalypse? Will there even be an apocalypse? Only time will tell...

Scarlet Alexa: Generation 8 Chapter 3

Things are finally heating up for Scarlet and her boy toy. Gosh, I can't even remember his name. I'll pull a tactic of the Almighty and call him Red Hat.

Seeing her mother so lonely and looking for love in all the wrong places has left Ariana wanting true love for herself.   Love for Ariana is complicated though.  While she longs to find the man that will make her heart skip beats, she also hopes for a man that is her intellectual equal. In fact—she will settle for nothing less. Ariana needs a man that doesn't take her intuition as paranoia. She needs someone that is open to the idea of a conspiracy theory without being completely insane.  More importantly, she needs a man  who is willing to have children right away so that they can begin training up the most brilliant mind that simkind has ever known.  If the Montgomery family is meant to survive the end of the world, it's going to take a dedicated mother and father educating, training and preparing their child. 

Meet James Bloodworth.  He's a nerd brain and a genius. He's well bred and a good choice as a life partner.  He doesn't think that Ariana is crazy. In fact, as an agency clerk for the Sims Intelligence Agency...he's heard things.  Like Ariana, logic rules him and while he knows something is going amiss in the world, he is neither paranoid nor delusional.  James Bloodworth is as far from insane as a person can get. He's smart and like Ariana, he wants to insure the future of the world.  A marriage to a smart woman like Ariana only makes sense.

Though not logical, both Ariana and James are relieved that they seem to have a lot of physical chemistry together because of course it would be altogether terrible to feel absolutely nothing for the person you are planning to share a life with.  The spark is there. It may not be a roaring inferno but the spark is most definitely there. The two decide they have no time to waste and made plans to return home to elope—immediately.

Which is exactly what they did.  After showing him around the home and introducing him to her mother, Ariana shared her first kiss with James.  This may be a marriage of mind and matter but Ariana and James are both smitten with the idea of falling hopelessly in love with one another. Nothing would make them happier than being finding love in the one person who gives the brightest hope for the future. 

Though a logical sim, Ariana knows that love is still the most powerful force on earth and she was determined not only to have the best mate but also to have love. So, she presented James with a very special ring as a token of engagement. This ring holds her most intimate thoughts inside of a tiny computer chip.  It's literally the closest thing to giving her actual heart that she could ever give another sim.    This marriage may not be being built completely on love but for Ariana, she's promising him that her heart will be his and with time, their love will be everything they've ever dreamed of and more.

With vows spoken, Ariana and James head to the rocket ship to get started on their family right away.   These two have their hearts set on love and family. Will they reach the stars or will their dreams crash and burn?

Scarlet Alexa: Generation 8 Chapter 2

Ariana is looking to the stars for answers to all of the questions she has about life. She's spent days digging around in the library and found old files written down by Akito Montgomery in the fifth generation and she's convinced there's political corruption that is going to result in a massive apocalypse. I don't dig obsession but at least this one is forcing my sim into gaining many skills in preparation for the future.

With Ariana so busy with her studies, Scarlet and Phillip have been busy building a stronger relationship. Both of them have completed their aspirations to have a soulmate.

You can't believe how very happy I am for these two! Scarlet started out with the dreaded love affair with a married man so I couldn't have imagined that she would go on to find the love of her life with a man that is noncommittal!

Back to Ariana—that girl is determined! She's now a savant and earning skills even faster.  Further, she's started building a rocket ship! WHOA! You go girl!

Of course, being the overachiever that she is, it didn't take long for her to be D-O-N-E! Yes, folks, pretty soon there will be a Montgomery in Space. You can't believe how proud I am.  We just need to give this ship a couple upgrades and we'll be ready for launch!

Before Ariana could head for the stars—Phillip reached for the heavens in unexpected ways.  I honestly thought that he and Scarlet would have more time together. Her heart is just shattered. He was much older but still...we were caught off guard.

If there's anything that Scarlet learned from Phillip though, it's that you need companionship.  Things don't even have to be super serious.  Yes, their particular relationship was. He was her soulmate and while she is devastated, she doesn't feel the need to neglect her social needs.

So, she lovingly placed flowers on his grave and then made wishes for romance at the wishing well. 

Meet Preston.  He's kinda cute. He's young, but cute.  I'm sure he'll provide a bit of romance and a not-so-serious relationship for Ms. Scarlet. 

 We'll give it a few days though before things get too serious.  We want to be respectful towards Phillip. Plus, it's Ariana's birthday into young adulthood!

With Ariana now a young adult, I've had her to join up with the Legacy club.  She's an overachiever and convinced the world is going to end. That means she wants to be prepared by learning everything that she can! No time for romance yet...this girl is still busy trying her best to get to space! 

Her rocket science skills are maxed and she unlocked connections so that she could start her career as a scientist! No better way to get to space and make a difference in the world—possibly even save it!

First, though? She decided to save her mom! Scarlet was due to age to elder and Ariana talked her into drinking the life essence of a sim that Penny's cowplants devoured.  Mama is now back to the first day of adulthood!

These two ladies are going to take over the world!

Scarlet Alexa: Generation 8 Chapter 1

Scarlet Alexa has taken over the Legacy family home, with her partner by her side. Scarlet is a modern woman and feels no need to be married just for the sake of being married. She and Phillip are perfectly happy together just as they are.  Also, unless there is just an oops, they don't plan to ever have children together. Heidi is loved by both of them and neither feels the need to have to have another child.  It's not that they would be disappointed if it just happened, it's just not planned for them at this time.  It's OKAY. They are happy.

After the death of Emma, Scarlet's younger siblings, Lacey and Ember both decided that they wanted to move out with their aunt Lauren in San Myshuno.

That leaves us with just Scarlet, Phillip and Heidi living at the Montgomery Family Home.  The quietness in the house is one that Scarlet and Phillip aren't used to so they've taken to dating almost every night so they can fulfill their dream of being soulmates. 

Heidi is now a little girl, a whiz kid. She's very close to Phillip and to her mom. I really expect big things out of this girl. She's been super determined to get good grades and finish her childhood aspirations. I just hope she grows up looking okay. We all know I'm pretty vain about how my heirs look.

For the first time in two generations, I have a working mom again. Scarlet decided that her garden needed one of the alien plants I've yet to get my hands on and that meant joining the astronaut career.   She's advanced to level 4 after just a couple days on the job so, hopefully she's heading into space soon!

With their promotions going well, I sent Scarlet and Phillip on a date to help fulfill their lifetime aspirations to find a soulmate.  While at the narwhal nightclub I was rather surprised to see that Phillip spun the want to marry Scarlet.  He's noncommittal but he has a conflicting aspiration of soulmate. Since both he and Scarlet want a soulmate and he spun the actual want to marry her, I allowed them to elope. This is just love,y'all. I truly thought that both of them were happy with just living together but to see Phillip spin that want, I couldn't deny him.  I guess sometimes even The Maker can let sims make their own choices. No one tell The Almighty Ruler of Everything that I let two sims make a decision for themselves, okay?

I also let them celebrate in the closet. Which I might regret since two accidental babies were conceived in there in this family.

Time went on and Scarlet and Phillip are both level 6 in their careers. Scarlet is in the astronaut career and Phillip is an art critic.   No babies were conceived in the closet that I know of. Scarlet and Phillip turned into adults and Heidi (who now insists on being called by her middle name, Ariana) is a beautiful teenager.

Ariana is shaping up to be one of the most interesting sims I've had the pleasure of knowing. She's smart and questions everything. She's already decided that she wants to be a scientist and she's very much insisting on filling her head with as much knowledge as possible.

She's convinced that the world as she knows it is speeding towards extinction and she's determined to halt destruction if she can! I guess we will see what the future holds for Ms. Ariana!