Fairlight, Leigh and little Kayleigh moved into Simsville and bought The Burb House. [This house is beautifully made for the Simsville world, my compliments to its creator!]
It had quite a large garden, with an established orchard of apple trees, a vegetable plot and lots of room for Kayleigh to totter about.
Fairlight immediately embarked upon a set of building modifications. He added a garage for his prized vintage car, a cellar, a larger porch and a kitchen extension. But when it was all done, he felt it was a very good house.
Leigh was delighted. The house was so olde-worlde and yet quite practical and pretty.
Kayleigh's room was quite small but Leigh painted this crib to match the bedding, loving the bright childrens' colours!
As she grew, Kayleigh helped with the housework.
Unfortunately, Fairchild really could not stand babies. While he loved Kayleigh, who he called his special little devil, he hated all the little childish noises she made. He hated it when she cried, he hated it when she didn't get to her potty in time, when she spilled her food.
When Leigh told he she was pregnant again, he was cold and angry.
And didn't speak to her for some hours.
Kayleigh was watching. She enjoyed watching them fight and she could tell this was going to be a big one. Secretly delighted at the thought of a baby brother or sister, she watched carefully to see which side would win.
"I only ever married you for your money. You didn't think I actually CARED for you?"
While Kayleigh set off for school, Leigh tried to get to the pancakes she had left on the table.
He came back at her. "I don't want you to get fat as well. And as for more babies!"
He punched her hard in the stomach. "Falcons to you!"
Even a worm will turn, given enough provocation. She slapped him. Hard.
"No-one does that to Fairlight and LIVES!"
"Yeah?"
Her head had hit the couch and she was soo dizzy.
When she came round with a splitting headache she discovered he had locked her in the lounge with the old, broken television he had never bothered to fix. It was late, Kayleigh must be back from school.. in fact she could hear him and Kayleigh talking quietly, and Kayleigh's laugh - which now sounded completely evil. Then she heard the garage door open and the car leaving.
She dozed on the couch, in spite of her stomach rumbling. Somehow she had to survive for her baby's sake.
Much later, sleeping fitfully, she heard footsteps outside the back door and the sound of something sliding beneath the door. Suddenly there was a WHOOSH. A firework had been pushed under the door and had set the sofa near the door on fire!
The fire spread from the sofa to the coffee table, to the bookshelf. The bookshelf took a long time to start but when it did, it made a very hot fire. Leigh pulled the television and a second sofa and an armchair toward her, at the other side of the small room, clear of the rugs. It seemed counter-intuitive, but she felt somehow safer having something to hide behind. She was hungry, and tired, and actually dozed off for a little while on the sofa close to her by the warmth of the fire blazing now in the centre of the room. The television had stopped working weeks ago and Fairlight, who was not interested in it at all, had simply refused to get it fixed.
The fire spread to the sofa she had been sleeping on, and to the old television, and Leigh thought she was going to die.
In the middle of all this her cramps came back. She thought her stomach had been hurting because of Fairlight's punch earlier. Now she knew it was labour...
Finally, the fire went out. She was simply standing, holding her new baby son.
The room was completely stripped of furniture. How she had survived she never understood, but she believed that somehow Lee had saved her.
Now that it was all over and Lee was safe, she felt completely drained. She laid him gently down on the ashy floor and collapsed beside him.
Fairlight came to see. "Of course, the baby could have died in the fire as well."
Then, hearing his daughter coming, he started to weep.
The Grim started to do his work. The metaphysics of Sims death can be quite spectacular.
Transmogrification.
Transference.
Only slightly interrupted by the breaking out of a new fire.
"Fairlight, spare us your crocodile tears."
Transfiguration.
"Help!" yelled Fairchild. "Help me!"
Translation.
"For my childrens' sake! Give me justice!"
Kayleigh called the fire brigade and the Social Worker.
"Dad is on fire... I think he is nearly cooked. Dad killed her - yes, yes, she is gone and there is just me and my baby brother. We would like a ride to the orphanage please, nice beds and lots of toys and salad and chocolate cake to eat... yes, the Grim was just here, he said he would come back for Dad when he's done."
Now Kayleigh could allow herself to cry for her mother.
The Social worker came. "Help me!" yelled Fairchild.
"I'm here for the children - I'm sorry, I can't! But there's a fire truck just pulled up outside."
The firefighters arrived a moment too late for Fairchild.
"I can't make conversation with you, I have to get on, another thirty to go today in this town alone."
"Transmogrification, transfiguration, come on Fairlight, I haven't got all day." And the Reaper clicked his fingers and flicked Fairchild away with his staff.
Meanwhile, another small fire had started on the property. It burned out quickly.
Slowly, the house cooled down. Slowly, the ash settled and the smoke dispersed.
Another exciting chapter in its long history over. Who would be next?
Kayleigh and Lee will return... [although the game itself does NOT allow adoption in the way Sims 2 did, children can be retrieved. These two were adopted by Witch and Donovan Sapp.]