Hope

[Ollie]

"If you don't like me, that's not my problem," I argued.
"But I do like you, but while you're away you're always sleeping around, giving in to others," He yelled back.




We continued to argue and argue.


We argued about how Cody wasn't doing anything with his life, how Cody wasn't interested in marriage, how I was supposedly "sleeping around" at University (which may or may not be true) and how I wanted to move to a nicer place.


It was over, me and Cody were no more and I was moving out. He agreed that I should take custody of Cherry.


"But where exactly are you going to move to?" Cody asked.
"Well while I was on my way home from university I uploaded my resume and almost immediately I was offered a job in the sports career, the only thing was it was over in..."


Appaloosa Plains.




I must say it is quite a lovely house that Cherry and I moved in to.




Along the way to the farm house we picked up a few animals which I thought would be good for Cherry.
We got a horse, named Duncan.




A Siamese cat, named Sandy.




And a little Dachshund, named Charles (quite a fancy name indeed).




I wanted to have a ride on Duncan, so first I got to know him.




I then jumped up with success!






I loved watching these animals as they tucked in to their dinner.




Soon it was time for my first day at work in the sports career, I was as excited as ever!




I came home with a smile on my face.




I then proceeded to read Cherry a bedtime story.




The next day it was Cherry's birthday, so I organised a party.




Soon the guests arrived and I met a fair man named Oliver.




Unfortunately I had to go to work before Cherry aged up.




So here she is, the main attraction, my little princess as a child.




In the meantime Duncan was doing some very odd stuff with his ball...




Cherry got along well with all of the animals, so it was a good idea to get them.




I was also getting along well with Cherry.




Soon it was Cherry's first day at school, good luck Cherry.




I quite enjoyed taking Charles out for walks.




I must say Cherry is quite the princess.




I started with this whole online dating things and very soon I met a match his name was Zach, he was a fire-fighter and quite the looker. It also just so happened that he was roomies with Oliver.




Oh dear, the ice-cream van was here. I made sure that Cherry stayed inside the entire time.




Zach and I got in contact and decided to meet-up.




With Zach being a fire-fighter, he had little time to meet up so I went out to the fire department to hang out with him.




When I met him we got along greatly, like icing on a cake.




Although soon I had to go back to work and he had to continue with his duties.


Without Cody, my life was coming along well, surprisingly.

[Caspin]

At uni she only took just a butterfly rug? She could have cleaned the place out I suppose so I marvel at her restraint.

My sim came home from uni with a load of junk because people keep sending those ridiculous gifts and love letters. It's getting on my nerves. Might stick a mod back in to reduce that feature. I mean it's nice that everyone lurves her, but the inventory is full of ugly paintings and barbecues and stuff!

Anyway, glad she got rid of angry Cody, he wasn't going to be much fun to live with and now she can have a marvellous time with a fireman. Good for her. If she's lucky he'll wear his uniform at home. I could make a lot of awful jokes about his pole and his hose, but I don't want to tread on Minty's territory, as dubious joking is an arena in which he appears to excel.

[Ollie]

Oh god, those freaking gifts "blah blah has sent you a sink with a letter saying, 'I love you with all my heart, call me. Please.'"
Just pathetic.

[Caspin]

(26-05-2013 09:41 AM)Ollie Wrote:  Oh god, those freaking gifts "blah blah has sent you a sink with a letter saying, 'I love you with all my heart, call me. Please.'"

Yeah I hate them. The occasional modest gift (say a potted plant or a cake) from someone your sim is actually dating (or has at least heard of!) would be quite nice. But complete strangers sending such ludicrous items is just annoying. I know you can just sell it all but it can net you quite a lot of money and sometimes I don't want my sims to be super-rich if I'm playing in a more or less realistic way.

[Ollie]

There shall be some big-ish updates coming soon with much more story elements.

[Caspin]

I look forward to them! If they will be big updates then I'll make a cake to sustain me while I'm sat here reading. Perhaps a ginger loaf would be appropriate.

Oh and I hope we're going to get to see more of Firefighter Zach (preferably in uniform). Minty never presented us with hose and pole jokes as I'd predicted, so perhaps he's needing more material for inspiration.

[Ollie]

They might only be slightly longer than the previous updates (25-30 pictures long), but the main big things are the surprise plot twists (one of which I had planned to put in an earlier update, but it didn't fit). Lets just say that Gracie's past might catch up with her.

[Caspin]

OK, well then perhaps some muffins will suffice.

[Ollie]

I think I have met my perfect soul mate. I didn't need Cody, all he did was drag me down. Zach certainly made me forget about all the pain and depression I felt back in Sunset Valley. I loved Zach.



Yep, my past was the past and life was good now.



The next morning, a surprised came along with a door knock.



So off I went to see whom it may be.



To my surprise, it was Cody!


"Hi... Gracie, I received something in the mail not too long ago for you, so here I am to deliver it." Cody and I were both nervous and anxious in our own ways. "Anyway, seeing as I was in town, I was just wondering if I could also pay a little visit to Cherry."
"Umm, I don't think now is the best of times, how about another day?" I attempted to push him away in a very edgy tone.
"Gracie, babe, I'm sorry that I broke up with you, but the past is behind us, right?" Cody tried to get me on his side. "Look, this may come as a shock to you, but while we were apart, I got with another girl, we had a child, I thought my life was good, but it all wasn't quite right without you."


"WHAT?! I think you should leave." I was becoming more angry and aggravated by the minute.
"I'm sorry, but I broke up with that girl, the past is the past and I have realised now that I was an idiot and I love you."
"Look Cody, I really think you should leave."
"Please forgive me, I'm sorry." He began to start putting his hands around me and shoved me up against the wall. I screamed for help as he continued to try and smooth talk me.



Thank god Zach came running in to my aid.



Zach pulled Cody away from me and they began an epic fight for my love. It was kind of romantic, but also frightening at the same time.



Zach stood proudly as the winner of this fight as Cody struggled to get back up on his two feet.



After getting up, Cody shoved a letter at me and limped away saying, "Enjoy your crappy letter from your stupid father."


"My father?" I yelled back confused as hell but got no reply as Cody had stumbled off my lot.

"I'm really sorry Zach, but I think you should go," I told Zach trying not to sound angry or annoyed. "I'll call you later, ok?"



I sat down at my desk prepared for whatever the letter may contain.





"Hello Gracie Hope,
It's David, your father. I have written this letter to both apologise and inform you about the truth. I'm sorry that I put you through all this pain and misery, I truly am. Now the for the truth, I don't know where to start. I guess I should start when I was young. Back in the day I was abused by my father. I was abused, a lot. I feel ashamed to admit is, but it is true. It was so bad that my mother had to flee the house, she tried to take me with her, but my dad didn't let her.
Eventually I managed to flee the hell hole, I had to spend days on the streets walking along the side of a road hoping to find a better life in a new town. One day a group of thugs began to bash me just outside of Sunset Valley. I ended up waking up with no knowledge of who I was. I was dazed and confused filled with amnesia and forming the name David Hope. As days passed on the streets of Sunset Valley, I secretly started to remember where I came from and who I was, piecing the puzzle together. I couldn't tell anyone the truth, I never wanted to see my Dad again, I was better off on the street than in his house.
Days in Sunset Valley turned in to weeks and I met you mother, Jamie. Our relationship had its ups and downs before I learnt of her debt to the criminal underworld. She ended up having to sell her house and move in to a tent with me. Eventually she fell pregnant with Theodore and I had saved up my own little amount of money to buy a small cabin, but Jamie still had a little debt to the criminals.
Not too long after Theodore became a child and having you as our second child, he went missing, which tore our family apart. Days went passed with rumours spreading around town and still no sign of Theodore until I went through Jamie's phone in secret. I dug through your mothers messages and discovered that Jamie was in contact with a man and it appeared as if Jamie had given Theodore to him. It was then I joined the dots and figured out that Theodore wasn't my child. I was too embarrassed to go to the police. I tried teaching you to talk to get the affair that Jamie had out of my mind. It didn't work so I tried to walk it off. When I came back I was in too much distress, there was only one way to get the events out of my mind. I shot her, I shot and Killed Jamie Hope, I'm sorry. All this did was bury me in a more deep and sadistic place. I literally made myself believe that I didn't kill her, but instead Jamie killed herself. I believed my own BS tales. The only other people who knew the truth were criminals who had corrupt cops in their contacts, and considering Jamie's large debt they made sure I wasn't put behind bars.
Months had passed with you growing up with an absent mother when I suddenly received unexpected mail. There had been a corruption eruption with Sunset Valley's police department and a new investigation in to the death of your mother and the disappearance of your brother and of course they found the truth with a clear letter saying that I was due in court. In the end I was forced to fake my death with my criminal contacts that I had and leave town for good with only one place to go to, my mother. I had come in contact with her not long after Jamie's death, but unfortunately soon after I arrived she died of natural causes.
I never saw Theodore or my father ever again. I'm sorry I wasn't a better Father and I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. Good-bye.
I'm sorry,
David Hope."

There was also a photo of himself that came with the letter.



Well... I didn't know what to think and/or feel. I kept telling myself my past is the past, but it just keeps catching up with me. One thing that I found kind of ironic was the fact that, although I didn't like it, he did have his own quirky little style going on, just like when I was a teen.
Still I had no feelings. All I had was numbness which shrouded my body from head to toe.



After locking myself in my room all day and all night, restlessly thinking over what I had read, I wiped it from my mind and moved on, today was a new day, I remembered what I had told myself while I was on my way to University for the first time not too long after Cherry was born, I was focusing on the future, not the past.



Zach and I got back together after that awful day. I asked him to move in for "added security" and he accepted.



His cat also joined the family.



To keep my mind busy I allowed Cherry to have a cute little sleep-over.



We also installed a small (and really bad looking) barn for our horse, Duncan.



I think he likes it.



Charles seemed to be getting a little old.



Who the hell is this guy? And why on earth is he jumping on my trampoline?



I've never noticed before, but I fit quite perfectly under Duncan.



A couple of days had passed since that odd letter and now I was in for another surprise.


Apparently I was going to court fighting for custody of my dear girl, Cherry. Cody has really done it this time.

[Caspin]

Oh my gods!




That's really good, Ollie! I shall read it again later. What a lot of shocks!