Sadly this must close.

I'm sorry to say that I just can't do it anymore. I love writing stories, having my sims interact with others, and just being a part of this community. I try to take on far too much and I (as well as my poor computer) just can't handle it. :( College is far more tiring than I thought, and I also have a job on top of trying to write my novel. After I spend six hours in class and another six scanning groceries, the last thing on my mind is playing video games.

I may come back in a few months with some new sims, new stories. It has been a very fun ride.

Finding Love Again

He was almost ready.

Ryen Crow only needed to pack his suits, and he would be finished. He could carry his trunk down the stairs and say, "I'm out of here!" He opened his dresser and started picking through the clothes when he heard his wife screaming downstairs. "RYENNNN!"


"What, what is it?" Ryen asked, sprinting into the game room.

"D-don't panic," Eve said, breathing heavily.

"Tell me!"

"I think it's time."

"I think so too. I've been meaning to talk to you about this." Ryen started mentally going through the argument in his head. He had worked out everything he wanted to say.

"The baby is coming."

"What?!"


---

Ryen had never loved someone as much as he loved this little person. To him, Rae Elizabeth Crow was six pounds, five ounces of pure love. He smiled when she smiled, and when she cried, he wanted to join her.


"I'm a father," he kept saying in disbelief. After Eve talked him into setting Rae down for a nap, Ryen finally went to the kitchen to start dinner.

He saw his wife, whom hours earlier he was about to leave, standing in front of the open fridge, pondering what to cook. He suddenly felt so much love for her his heart hurt.

"Eve," he said, softly.

She turned around, making a brave face. Anytime they spoke anymore, they ended in an argument. She was ready for it. He broke the distance between them and pulled her to him.

"Yes, Ryen?"

It had been so long since he'd said it to her that it felt foreign coming out of his mouth. "I love you."

What the heck was that?!

Sunday Flax had always been considered a city girl. Born in Pepper Ridge, the biggest city in any direction for miles, then on to simSeattle with her parents, then back to Pepper Ridge after college, Sunday had very little nature experience. Her parents had raised her to be the kind of girl with a cramped city apartment with a tiny yard, and she was making them proud.

But for the last few weeks, Sunday had been talking to a new friend of hers, Asher Meridian, about renting a cottage in Lemon Creek, very nature-y. She learned that anything worth living in was going to be out of her price range, at least until the payment for the Aerial Bionic pictures came in, if it even would.

So when her phone rang early in the morning and the caller ID said "Asher" her heart soared. Did he find a cheaper cottage? Has something opened up? She flipped through images in her mind of a large garden, with dozens of plants and room to move around, unlike her tiny 3x3 setup.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice far too cheerful for seven in the morning.

"Uh," Asher said. He wasn't prepared for her excitement. He told her he had a favor he needed to ask, and could he come over right away.

Sunday told him he could, then quickly ran to the shower to wipe away the last night's makeup. After the AB concert, she had gone home and gone right to sleep, too tired for a bath.

He came to the door and she invited him inside. "What's this mysterious favor?" she asked.

"I just. Well. I'll just come out with it. I know we haven't known each other very long, but you're the only sim I can trust. I might have a huge music opportunity coming up, like huge, and I need someone to watch Elena while I'm gone."


"Oookay," Sunday said cautiously.

"I know it's too much to ask, but this could make my career, man. Something like this could totally change my life."

Everything in Sunday's head was screaming NO! Don't sign yourself up for babysitting duty!, but Sunday felt herself nodding, and heard the words "Sure, I can do it," slip out of her mouth.

"Oh my god, THANK YOU!" he breathed, and he kissed her.


She went with it for a minute, then jumped back in surprise. She fought to keep her voice even as she said "What the heck was that?"

"Uh, I don't know," he said sheepishly.

Sunday was saved from having to reply by a voice calling from the foyer. "Asher!? Are you in there?"

Asher ran into the living room with Sunday hot on his heels. "Hey, Elena. I've got some good news."

"Why don't I make us some lunch," Sunday said nervously, fighting to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks.

---

"What do you mean, going away?" Elena asked, voice rising. "You're LEAVING?"


"It's just for a bit. And I'll come home every chance I get. And you can call me every day."

"You're leaving me?" Elena pushed away from the table.

"I'm not leaving you, I'll be back. Don't you understand how big of a deal this is? This could change our lives!"


"You're leaving me like mom and dad left us!" Elena wailed.

"Dammit, Elena, it's not like that!"

Elena turned on her heel and ran for the nearest door, the guest room, and locked herself in there. She cried, heavy, shoulder shaking sobs.

First mom, then dad, and now my brother, she thought while she cried. I'm going to be alone for good.

Sunday started doing the dishes while they waited for Elena to calm down. Nothing like a menial task to keep you from thinking about a kiss you didn't quite understand.

"I'm so sorry, Sunday," Asher said. "She's not normally like this."


"It's okay. You're the only one she's got. I'd be worried if she didn't care."

Elena cried for nearly a half an hour before collecting herself and walking out.

"I'm um, sniff, sorry. I didn't mean to slam your door, Sunday."

"Oh, Elena, don't worry about it," Sunday laughed. She pulled her into a hug. With her arm around the younger girl's shoulder, she headed for the guest room.

"If you're okay with it, we can make this your room while your brother is on his trip. I can move my sewing and art stuff, and we can bring your bedroom furniture in here. As long as it fits," she added.

After apologizing again, Elena left for work. She got a part-time job to earn some extra money. Asher and Sunday settled on the sofa, talking about the details.

Elena would stay in the house with Sunday, she had a curfew of ten o'clock, and he warned her about Elena's frequent mood swings.

Neither of them were prepared for what had happened upstairs. For Asher, he was just too shy to talk about such things, and Sunday was too much of a lady to ask. They talked about everything and nothing, but were totally unable to ignore the elephant in the room.

So they stopped trying, and did something completely uncharacteristic for the both of them.


Ohh, ACR. Teehee, I'm not gonna lie, I love this couple. But they actually weren't meant for eachother, (I'm not that good at covering up my predestined matches!) so I couldn't decide if i liked it, but now I think I do. I had them do this because seriously EVERY TIME THEY WERE TOGETHER, even in public, they would start to get naked on park benches and I would have to boolprop select them and make them stop. I can't have sluttyslut sims woohooing when they don't even KNOW eachother! So this makes an honest woman out of Sunday and keeps Asher from being the skeez of the neighborhood.

Fourth Of July with Aerial Bionic

Lemon Creek was lucky enough to snag Aerial Bionic for the local July 4th celebration. Sims waited outside to get tickets for the event the day before, everyone was jittery with excitement. Not many bands travel through such a small town!


"You have to let me in," Elena Meridian pleaded with a bouncer at the venue, hours before the doors opened. "I'll just be a minute. Please. PLEASE! I'll be your best friend forever if you just LET ME IN!"


The celebrations were tinged with sadness with the loss of Lupe Rivera, but locals still found it in them to let loose and have a great time. If anything, the music cheered them up. The concert went off without a hitch, and the band played a mix of older songs and ones off their new album.

At the end of the set, fireworks erupted around the band, a precursor to the big fireworks show held next door. Professional pyrotechnics expert Alex Rebenga oversaw the big show, ensuring an Independence Day celebration no one would soon forget.

Rivera - The Hardest Thing

The next morning,waking up was the most difficult thing Marc Rivera ever had to do.

He lay in bed, eyes closed, willing himself to go back to sleep. He wasn't ready to start the day. Just a few more hours, please. He heard laughter coming from the next room. He thought it strange that there could possibly be laughter in the house this morning. Then he realized that it was canned laughter, the soundtrack of a cartoon.



That made sense. Charlie, the oldest child at the orphanage, would be watching cartoons, just like he did every morning before-

Before It. Marc couldn't bear to think the words "she died". To say it out loud meant that it was real, and he just wasn't quite ready for that.

Through the cartoon laughter and slapstick sounds, a childish wail pierced the air. It was time to feed little William. Marc pulled himself out of bed and brought Will to the kitchen, placing him in the highchair.

Charlie came into the room, still in his pajamas. "Marc?" he asked, voice very soft.

"What, Charlie?" Marc said. He knew that he should be more gentle with the little boy, but he couldn't think past the gaping hole in his chest.


"Today is Lupe's funeral, right? You should go get dressed." Marc didn't want to hear that. He didn't want to think that little Charlie was stepping up, taking care of him. "I'll make sure Will doesn't choke."

-----

"I have never in my life met someone so loving or generous as Lupe Rivera. She opened her home to any children that needed her, and her heart to the world." Claire Abbott paused to wipe tears from her eyes as she gave the speech. "Our lives and our town won't be the same without her."

Marc expected to cry during this service, but he didn't. He felt a physical ache in his chest, but everywhere else felt numb, like static. He put a hand on her tombstone and said, "Te quiero, Lupe."

"If you need anything, just let us know," everyone had said. He'd lost count of how often he had heard that in the last few days.

He wanted to tell everyone, "What I need is a stiff drink."

Aerial Bionic!

As a part of their summer tour promoting their Ursha album, Aerial Bionic has stopped at Lemon Creek for a few days! Photos by Sunday Flax. For more photos of Ariel Bionic during their stay in LC, go HERE.


Before the show, Sunday and Trevor Yates were worried that the weather wouldn't come through for them, but the sun came out, perfect for pictures and concertgoers.

Trevor Yates and Gareth Thayer signed autographs for excited fans, sending bubbly Elena Meridian into fangirlish hysterics.




Abbey Grimm cheered for the band, showing up with a shocking new red hair color.

"This was exactly the kind of excitement we needed in the dead of summer. I'd love to see Aerial Bionic in concert again."

Aerial Bionic Visits!

The famed Aerial Bionic of Apple Valley have come to Lemon Creek this week. Soon will be posted many concert and event photos. We can't thank the members of AB and the neighborhood of Apple Valley enough. Stay tuned!

Rivera - Don't be worried.

The day before the local summer bake-off, Lupe Rivera tearfully said goodbye to another daughter. It wasn't really goodbye goodbye, Penny was just moving down the street, but it still make big fat tears spill down Lupe's cheeks. She should have been glad. When Penny grew into a child, her chances of being adopted shriveled up, but Claire Abbott came to the rescue and offered Penny a home.

She had been only gone one day, but Lupe missed her already. Before the bake-off the next morning, Lupe's stomach was in knots. "Claire and Penny will be there. What if I see her and start crying? What if she's happier with Claire than she was here?" she unloaded on her husband, Marc.

"Look, Lu, we are in this to find homes for these kids. Claire's a great mother, and if Penny is happier, then that's even better." 

The nerves began really getting to Lupe, and she bolted to the bathroom, feeling ill. She next dealt well with nervousness. 

With a sigh, Marc retreated to the quiet of the driveway, where he was restoring an old, worn out car. It was relieving to get away from the stress of his wife's sudden hysteria and just focus on something that made sense. His goal was to restore it like new and sell it to a collector to buy some new playground equipment for the kids.

After the baking competition, Lupe still felt terrible. She couldn't blame it on nerves this time. She lounged on the couch, hoping her stomach would settle down, when the doorbell rang. "Who is coming over at eight at night?" she thought, glad the children were all settled in bed.

She looked through the peephole and saw Sunday Flax, the very woman who crushed her in the Bake-Off. "Do you need something, Sunday? I'm not feeling very well this evening." 

"I could tell," she said with a smile. "I brought something that should make you feel better."

"I think a good rest will make me feel better," replied Lupe curtly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bug you, you just seemed really sick today and I-"

"I'm sorry, Sunday. I'm not feeling myself. Come on in."

Sunday gestured for Lupe to sit at the table and she uncovered a steaming bowl of soup. "If you're still feeling sick after this, then you're terminal," Sunday joked.

"What's in this?" Lupe asked nervously.

"Secret recipe. But it works every time."

Imagine my surprise when Lupe was hunched over the porcelain god with a pregnant? thought in her head. They weren't ever supposed to have babies! That's why I started this stinking orphanage. :P Oh well. I guess Lupe (or Marc? Bwahah!) had other plans.  

Grimm-Pruett Wedding

Nadine Grimm and Cain Pruett were married in a small ceremony at the Grimm house. Cain chose to take his bride's surname because there weren't any male Grimm's to carry on the name.

Nadine began the reception with a toast to her sister and maid of honor, Abbey. She thanked her "for helping with the wedding and everything else."

Lemon Creek Bake-Off!

Lemon Creek's lovely ladies worked up a storm in their kitchens to put their culinary skills to the test in Lemon Creek's first annual Summer Bake-Off.

Claire Abbott strutted in with a yummy-looking Baked Alaska. In appearance, it was absolutely stunning, but when it came to the taste-test it just didn't stand up.

Lupe Rivera tried her hand at baking and submitted a tasty cake. She went home with third place and a $50 gift certificate to Cup-a-cino.

Rose Abbott's Crepes Suzette was a total crowd-pleaser, earning her second place and a free meal for two at The Sour Lemon.

In the end, it was Sunday Flax who stole the show with her unassuming Berry Pie. When pressed for her secret, Sunday merely winked and said, "My lips are sealed!" First place medal in hand, Sunday was awarded with a free meal for four at The Sour Lemon and a year-long membership to ExerCity. "To work off the sugar," she joked.

"You know," commented Xavier Silverstein, who hosted the event at his restaurant, "You would think it would be the flashier desserts that would get the most points. I really like that it didn't go as expected."

We asked the newly adopted Penny Abbott what she thought about her new Nana's layer cake.

"Can we have bake-offs every week?"

I know that top picture doesn't fit completely, but I'm too lazy to fix it right now. :P Maybe later.

News updates

• More news in Lemon Creek! We now have a Downtown area! We incorporated Pepper Ridge, a nearby buzzing nightlife district, and now all residents of Pepper Ridge are Lemon Creek residents. Welcome to the Cooper and Flax families! (Link leads to info at the Resident directory)
• Along with new families comes new community lots. ExerCity, Cup-a-cino, Pepper Ridge Roller Rink, and Johnny's Diner are just a few of the destinations Lemon Creek's residents can now visit.
• Penny Rivera aged into a child during a quiet family birthday party at the orphanage. The Rivera's were quite nervous because it is harder for a child to be adopted than a toddler, however Claire Abbott has requested adoption of Penny and has been approved.
• Rose Abbott's brush with death is now over. She is feeling much better after a dangerous brush with pneumonia, but is back on her feet running things at Abbott Farms. 
  

Meridian - Music&Money

Even in his deams, Asher couldn't get a break. Since his father was murdered, a good night's sleep was very hard to come by. This particular night, Asher was haunted by nightmare after nightmare, the most terrifying of which involved his father, resurrected as a zombie, standing over Elena's bed, and he couldn't get to her room in time to save her.

He was finally fed up with waking up covered in sweat, heart racing, so he decided to give up on trying to sleep and see if anything was on television.

He heard the floorboards creak as his sister crept into the livingroom, looking exhausted.

 

"Can't sleep either?" she asked, groggily.

He shrugged. He hated when she could tell something was wrong. He was supposed to be taking care of he

r, not the other way around. Asher stood up and heade

d for the kitchen.  "I need a drink," he muttered.

"Ooh me too! Can you bring me one?"

He chuckled as he poured her a glass of water. He was going to need something much stronger.

"Why can't you sleep?"

"I'm just really stressed out, lately," he said, trying to change the subject.

"It's Dad, isn't it?"

"No! Uh, no. That's not it. I'm just tired, I work all day, and we're running out of money."

"Why don't you try going downtown tomorrow- well, I guess today, since it's technically 1:30. Play some music at a bar, unwind. If you set out a jar and ask for tips, people will totally give you money."

It couldn't hurt to try, right? He loaded his guitar and amp into the rust bucket called his car and drove to a bar in the new Downtown in the early afternoon. He set up his gear and put out a jar. After quickly scribbling "Tips, please :D" on the label, he was ready to go.

He always seemed to forget how great playing music made him feel. It was like all the stress and concern melted out of him with each song. He played for hours, and more than one tipsy patron paid for his drinks. At one point, another sim joined him on drums. Even though Garret was off beat, it was a blast to play with another music lover.

Asher started feeling pretty sleepy and the drinks were getting to him. He cleaned up his equipment and checked his jar. His jaw dropped when he saw how full it was. He made 800 bucks, doing what he loved. And thank goodness, because he was able to afford a cab, instead of trying to drive in his condition.

Asher's looking to start up a rock band. He needs a drummer, a bassist, and a singer. If any of your sims are musically inclined, please, please, PLEASE drop me an email at lemoncreekpo@yahoo.com if you'd like to talk about getting a band started. 

Rose Abbott Falls Ill

Just days after her only daughter became engaged, Rose Abbott has come down with a mysterious illness.

"She just sleeps all day," her husband, Frank, told us. "She won't eat or play with her granddaughter. We're all worried sick."

Marc Rivera, the local doctor, has been paying her daily visits. He spoke with us as well, saying, "It started out looking like food poisoning, but now it's something like the flu. If she doesn't start eating soon things could get really bad. If she doesn't improve in a day or two, I'm going to urge the family to take her to a city hospital. There's only so much I can do here."

Grimm - Money Woes/Crow - Help Wanted

Abbey Grimm logged on to her computer like any other day, intending to check her finances. Find out how much they had left in the account for this month, what bills need paying, etc. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief. There was a long list on the credit card bill of expenses, a wedding dress, champagne, food, flowers.

"Your wedding is going to cost HOW MUCH?" Abbey screamed at her sister.

"Look, Ab, when you get married you'll understand. I just want it to be perfect."

"And perfection requires a thousand dollar wedding dress? You are going to take all that crap back before the wedding on Wednesday. We can't afford this!"

Nadine tried to explain that most of the items were non-refundable. "And I cut the tags off my dress!" Abbey walked away before Nadine could finish.


Across the neighborhood, another fight was going on.

"How do you not tell your husband that you are pregnant, Eve?" Ryen Crow asked, sounding defeated.

"I wanted it to be a surprise! And sometimes women lose the baby before now, so I didn't want to say anything if I wasn't absolutely sure."

"This surprised me alright. And you did it in front of the entire neighborhood. I want to make this place our home, Eve, but I can't do that if you're going to make me look like a fool in front of our neighbors."


Ryen couldn't sleep in the bed that night. He was too mad to sleep next to her. "I'm sleeping on the couch," he spat bitterly. But the couch wasn't comfortable for sleeping. He was restless. He glanced on the floor near him and saw an empty soda and a bag of chips that Eve had been munching on earlier. 'This place is filthy,' he thought. 'We should really hire a maid.'


And that's what he did. The next evening he put out an ad, searching for someone to help tidy up and do little things that were needed around the house. In the ad he typed, "will pay very well," to hopefully speed things up.

There was an email in his inbox first thing in the morning. Abbey Grimm applied for the position. The flexible hours and easy work would be just the thing to pull in some extra cash and still leave her able to work on her novel.


Abbey came in to work the next morning at eleven. Eve was in a meeting with the spokessim talking about starting a school, since she was a teacher in their old town. "Thanks for doing this," Ryen said, feeling awkward. He barely knew this woman and she was going to be cleaning up his messes. He made a mental note to be more neat.

"Hey, don't sweat it," she replied. "I've gotten pretty good at cleaning, taking care of my sister all these years. Can you show me how your dishwasher works?"

Ryen walked Abbey through how everything worked, even showing her how to make the sink faucet run "hot", as if she couldn't figure that one out. After he walked her through every mundane task, he left her to it.

She spent the afternoon getting comfortable in her new job, thinking the entire time, "This is the nicest house I've ever been in, and I'm scrubbing its counters."

Orphanage renovations

Thanks to an extremely generous donation from Parker Tate of Ashby Falls, the Lemon Creek orphanage was able to make some much-needed updates. 

"The kid's rooms now have carpeting, we have two bathrooms, and we got to have an entirely new playroom, with new toys and fresh carpet and wallpa

per. Thanks to Parker Tate, we have a television that works and the kids all have new clothes. What we didn't spend, we put in a savings that is for the children only, so it will collect interest and we can use it to continue buying their clothes and necessities."

Lupe Rivera smiled and said, "Parker recently adopted little Mia from us, and he gave back in the most generous way. We couldn't have done this without his help, and we are extremely grateful."

Party and wedding announcements

Today the Crow family held a housewarming party to get acquainted with the neighborhood! This counts as their Lemon Festival celebration for the season. They are the only family to have a pool, so most residents shed their street clothes and enjoyed a good swim.

The shy Ryen Crow came out of his shell a little bit and served grilled burgers to his guests. Sims that didn't want to swim enjoyed the Crow's surround sound television system and big screen tv.




Eve Crow took this opportunity to tell everyone, her husband included, that she was entering her second trimester in her pregnancy. Ryen didn't know until this, and he was obviously in shock.

He didn't say much for the rest of the party.

Afterward, it was truly a time for celebration, because two engagements were announced. First, Nadine Grimm and Cain Pruett are engaged to be married this weekend. Cain plans to move in permanently with Nadine and her sister, and also intends to take the Grimm last name.

Claire Abbott is also announcing her engagement to Xavier Silverstein.
"I asked him! We were eating dinner, and I just thought, I've got to claim him before someone else does! So I asked him to marry me, and he said yes!"

Congrats to Cain and Nadine, as well as Claire and Xavier. We wish both couples well!

An arrest!

New gossip has sprung up around town after Elena Meridian was brought home by a police officer around three AM. She snuck out of her house at 1 with a boy from the new downtown. 

Asher, her guardian, says that he had no idea Elena had snuck out, and he planned to keep a better eye on her.

"It is what teenagers do," he said, sheepishly. "But I didn't think she'd find trouble in a small town. Guess I was wrong."

As her punishment, Elena has to spend three weekends cleaning up around Lemon Lake and Town Square.