The Sims 2 Presents: Foster's Valley!

[Cassini90125]

I didn't have any other choice. Let's leave it at that.

And now, back to the story...

Foster's Valley - The mystery deepens

Pity the Forum Administrator:



Sparky got summoned for Welcome Wagon duty again. I have no idea why the game keeps picking on her. Here we see her looking to the sky and you can almost hear her saying, "Sheesh, again?!?!", although at this point she might be saying something a trifle ruder. Making matters worse is that today's Welcome Wagon is at the McBride house, and the McBride and Forum adults aren't too fond of each other. On the bright side, Luanne does serve a dang good grilled cheese sandwich:



Also sentenced to selected for Welcome Wagon duty were Mac's mom and Louise's mom, two more people who don't get along too well. Seen above, Barbara is teasing Rhonda about her recent job loss; Rhonda got fired from her prestigious law firm the previous day and Barbara can't resist the urge to give her a little grief about it. Barbara usually gets the better of their encounters. Also present at the table are Travis and Luanne, along with their third son, Quentin, who I think I mentioned awhile back is the only really decent member of the family. Wants to become a doctor as I recall. After lunch it was time to crowd into the TV area, where Rhonda got a small measure of revenge:



Neal McBride chats with Sparky, who accidentally smacks Barbara in the face, and Rhonda applauds. In the background, Travis is also amused. Unlike the rest of my Sims, Travis is employed in a custom career I downloaded from MTS2. He wants to get into the "Criminal" career track but for now he is at level one in the "Scum Of Society" career, busily filching coins from mall fountains.

Sparky eventually got tired of watching TV while standing and sat at the dining table, where Rhonda joined her a few minutes later. The conversation was interesting:



"You don't want to be here, either, right?" asked Rhonda.
"I want to go home and soak in the tub for an hour," was Sparky's response. "I'm tired of Welcome Wagon duty. I want to soak, relax, eat whatever Lynnie's putting on the table tonight, and try to make sense of some things."
"Like what?" Rhonda smiled. "Maybe I can help?"
Sparky smiled in return. "Maybe you can. You see, I had a chat with Madame Foster yesterday, and she told me-"
Rhonda's smile vanished as she cut Sparky off "Hold it," she said. "I don't know what that old woman has been saying about me but I want to make this clear. I did not sell Bloo to her, I just rented him, okay? I needed to get him out of the house. Dammit, I needed a break! All the fighting, the horrendous messes, it was too much! I met her one day, I mentioned what a major hassle Bloo was, and when she told me about some deal she had with CN and offered me all that money to take him off my hands, it was too good to pass up! Besides, I did let him come back when the deal expired, right? I know it was wrong but everyone has a moment of weakness and I was at the breaking point. You've seen the show, well trust me, at the time he was worse. So don't judge me until you've walked a mile in my shoes, okay?" With that, Rhonda left the table and left a stunned Sparky with another mystery. Mac's mom and Madame Foster conspiring together before the show began? What did the grand old lady want with Bloo? She needed answers. And she still wanted everyone at Foster's to come to the Forum house.

(At that point in the game, the taxi showed up for the optional trip downtown. Travis got the call and I opted to go for it, despite the chance of another Community Lot game crash. But this time it didn't, and against very high odds the story took exactly the twist I needed...)

Sparky excused herself from the McBride house and went out for a cup of coffee. She opted for the 125 Cafe, the same place Travis and his friends were headed. While there, she spotted someone she'd never met but nonetheless knew, and decided that it was time to go over Madame Foster's head... or behind her back, depending on how you look at it:



Introductions took place, followed by small talk, mostly about how hard it is to keep a huge house like Foster's clean and running smoothly, and then, "So, tell me, Frankie, I've always been curious. What ever happened to baby Paco?"
"Eduardo still has him," Frankie smiled. "Still feeds him a bottle once a day, and... waitaminute, how do you know about baby Paco??"



"It's a long story," said Sparky. "But I'll tell you what. From what you've said it sounds like you and your whole family could use a day off. You're all newcomers to this area; my group's been here for a long time. Let us show you a little northwest Valley hospitality. What say you all pack up and hang out at our place for a day, let us take care of you for awhile. No cleaning, and Lynnie's a great cook. I'll tell you about how I heard about baby Paco, too, and maybe a few other things you'd like to know. Think of it as a vacation. How's, oh, Wednesday sound?" Frankie, always overworked, thought that it sounded great. "Wednesday it is," she smiled.

It's all going to hit the fan very soon. Stay tuned...