The idea of Julian returning to the lifestyle of roaming from town to town, stealing what he wants and sleeping on park lounge chairs sickens Bebe.   She realizes in an instant that what she’s been doing to Julian has accomplished nothing. The concept of forgiveness is at the very core of her beliefs, and she gains a sudden new appreciation for how difficult such a thing can really be. Deep inside, she believes it was grace that brought her and Julian together. By claiming she has forgiven him while continuing to hold on to her anger and denying him … Continue reading Chapter 2.11 – Legacy

David cannot stop thinking about the pictures of the old cabin he found at the library.   He has captured every page of the diary with his cellphone camera and moved the images to his laptop. He has been studying the entries and other photos to find out who they were. Since his discovery contains no new information about the abandoned mine, Reid seems uninterested. But David continues to read the diary. It had apparently been written by a girl about his age, whose family helped establish Sunset Valley.   It is a week of birthdays for the Barimen household, … Continue reading Chapter 2.10 – Forgiveness

David and Ciara exchange letters frequently over the fist weeks of her “exile”. He can only imagine what life is like for her, stuck living at school. Writing letters is no substitute for talking on long walks or hiking together through the woods, and although the tone of their writing may not reflect it, they miss each other terribly. One thing is for certain, their common birthday is still far away. He wonders sometimes whether their young relationship can last that long.   The situation at home has improved, but still is not normal. It makes him angry to see … Continue reading Chapter 2.9 – Settlers

The situation at the Barimen home is not well. Julian immediately talks with David to explain and apologize for creating more turmoil in the family. David is old enough to understand the ugly facts involving Yuki.    But what he does not understand is the whole drama surrounding how she ended up living with them. Based upon what he has pieced together through eavesdropping on his parents’ ice-cold conversations; Yuki is Julian’s daughter, and Pauline Wan somehow conned him into caring for her. It takes time, but the worst of the turmoil eventually subsides. Bebe is a Good sim, and … Continue reading Chapter 2.8 – Exiled

I found Ciara’s traits fascinating (unlucky, loves the outdoors, loser, hopeless romantic), and so made sure that David falls head-over-heals for her. With both unlucky and loser traits, she is just a tragedy waiting to happen. Weeks turn into months for David and Ciara. David learns firsthand that misfortune really does follow Ciara around. But he finds ways to compensate for her terrible luck and inability to succeed. Ciara’s sister, Fiona despises her younger sister and accuses her of purposefully breaking things around the house and just generally being a loser. But David knows that none of it is intentional, … Continue reading Chapter 2.7 – Consequences

Three o’clock Friday arrives and finds David a jumble of nerves. He has spent countless hours with Ciara, and so he asks himself why tonight is any different from any other time. But it doesn’t change the feeling of butterflies he has in his gut. Obviously, it is because he took their friendship to a new level in asking her out on a date. He wishes he could be as calm and confident as his dad, Julian. But even as a small child, he had always been prone to get over-excited about things.   David takes a cab to Ciara’s house … Continue reading Chapter 2.6 – Dinner

Moving into the new house has given David’s confidence a huge boost. He has hit it off pretty well with Ciara (KEER-ah), a new girl in school. She has just recently moved to Sunset Valley. Since she and David share a birthday, they naturally gravitate toward each other on their first day of classes with the older kids. He learns immediately that she too loves spending time outdoors. They spend much of their weekend time together hiking, fishing, or just relaxing on the beach. David shows her the abandoned mine Reid found when they were kids. It seemed much spookier … Continue reading Chapter 2.5 – Ciara

In the weeks that follow Julian’s indiscretion with Pauline, a parade of good news causes him to forget any guilt or remorse he has for cheating on Bebe.   The board of directors at the theater has approved his bid to buy enough stock to make him majority shareholder. With the commission he receives for convincing Pauline Wan to perform at the theater, Julian and Bebe finally have the leg-up they need to build their new home.   David has been spending more time at home. Both his best friends from school have grown to teenagers. This leaves him with a handful of … Continue reading Chapter 2.4 – Upgrade

It seems like there are always those times in life when a single event can change what would have been just an ordinary day into a life-altering milestone.   The plan is simple enough. Just make contact with Pauline Wan, ask her to perform in front of a few music industry big-shots, then go back home to Babe. Unfortunately, its the simple plans that generally fail to account for the unexpected. And Julian does not expect Pauline to be quite so …”revved up”.   The first breech in his resolve happens when Pauline squeals with excitement about the opportunity and … Continue reading Chapter 2.3 – Negotiations

The discovery of the Sunset Valley’s abandoned mine drives Reid to learn all he can about it’s history. Few people seem to know (or care) about it’s existence and there is very little in the way of records in City Hall or the library.   Every once in awhile, he updates David about his discoveries. David listens politely, but he really isn’t all that interested in boring details. He would rather be playing in the old mine shaft and searching for gold.   Jan and David forget about it soon enough, and move on to other adventures. Being the kind … Continue reading Chapter 2.2 – Friends

No matter how happy David appears on the outside, Julian knows that his son wants a normal life in a normal house. He has saved up some money, but not enough to build a new house and the increase in bills that would come with it.   And catching fish is not going to change that situation. Julian spends as much time with David as he can before making the decision to provide for his family. Julian decides to get a job, in the typical Julian atypical fashion. With the money they have saved, he begins to invest in the … Continue reading Chapter 2.1 – Rocks

It was kind of weird how all these events happened within a couple sim days of each other, so I figured I could compress them into a single post and begin the transition into chapter 2. Julian’s story is mostly complete, so I’m comfortable with starting to focus on events that happen in David’s life. There is a certain blissful ignorance regarding the passage of time that kids seem to enjoy. For David Barimen, the time is spent running through the brambles and pretending pirate ships have land on the beach beneath the bluffs. He barely notices as his birthday comes … Continue reading Chapter 2 – David