Round Seven - Nakamura 2

Emma's life as a criminal was exciting, dangerous, and going extremely well. She was rising up through the ranks of the local syndicate. Unfortunately the need for secrecy and the unusual hours meant she didn't have much time for socialising - something she wouldn't have minded if it hadn't been for Danny Knox. She was a little smitten with her new neighbour.


Meanwhile, Shiina was enjoying the life of leisure she'd built for herself. She'd sold several paintings and celebrated by taking Trent out on the town for a meal.


Whenever they hit the dancefloor there wasn't much dancing involved. She just wished her little brother Hiro would stop following her around looking disapproving.


In fact, her occasionally slightly out-there antics provoked a lot of disapproval. After she and Trent had a bit of fun in a photobooth Shiina got the smacking of her life from the local busybody.


As time passed Shiina found herself feeling more and more tired and nauseous. She was also putting on a little bit of weight. It was disconcerting - she'd always been naturally slim.


Eventually she couldn't deny it to herself any longer - or to Emma. She was clearly pregnant. Emma dragged her off to the doctors and accompanied her to routine scans - Trent had seemingly vanished off the surface of the planet and was not returning Shiina's calls.


Emma became a de-facto husband.

"Ems! You don't need to make my bed for me! I'm pregnant, not an invalid," fussed Shiina.

"It's not going to make itself," Emma pointed out.


"I know, I know, I need to take care of myself more. I shouldn't rely on you so much. I think when the baby's born I should probably get a real job. Give up on the whole becoming-a-fashion-designer dream..."

"Don't be so ridiculous!" snapped Emma. "I don't mind helping you out and I don't want to see my best friend give up on her dreams just because some low-life has knocked her up. Talking of which, you need to take that photo down. He's a loser."


They were an odd pair, two straight women living together and about to raise a baby, but it worked. Now Emma had convinced Shiina to keep following her dreams life went back to the usual routine of Emma working out and Shiina painting or sewing, sometimes chatting to one another and sometimes not. Emma wondered if she'd ever want to move out; Danny was cute, but her friendship with Shiina was something very special.


Note: Curse you, ACR. Talk about a baby boom!

Round Seven - Davies 2

To outside eyes, Jill and James were completely incomprehensible. Two flirty, cheating slackers, married and about to bring two innocent children in the world does seem like a recipe for trouble in anyone's books. But to them it all made sense. Sure, Jill had rekindled her affair with Will, and James didn't look likely to grow out of the mistakes he'd made in his first marriage, but they still loved each other.


Jill was trying to cover up her infidelity by making friends with Elle. Seeing as she'd previously hated Elle and got into several fights with her a more... perceptive husband may have suspected her motives, but "sensitive" and "emotionally intelligent" were not words anyone could use to describe James.

"You're absolutely glowing! Pregnancy suits you!" declared Jill.

"Um... thanks?" Elle was more than a little surprised by Jill's change in attitude, but she was a positive and friendly soul and her endless naivety allowed her to only see good in making friends. Plus she could do with the support of a fellow expectant mother.


James was surprisingly enthusiastic about the upcoming birth of twins considering how negligent a parent he'd been to his already-existing children. He couldn't wait to teach them how to play his synthesiser, and Jill was already talking about enrolling them in dance classes the moment they learned how to walk.


James's star was still rising in the world of parties. He was very close to being able to pack all the odd-jobs in and becoming a professional party guest. Flirting with the young ladies who gave him rides home helped his enthusiasm.


He'd also bumped into an old flame from a few years ago and they'd had a pleasant conversation with more than a little suggestion and innuendo. It put a spring in his step. Of course, he'd have to be careful Jill never saw any of this unless he really wanted a black eye.


Jill ended up going into labour mid-conversation with Elle in the middle of the lobby. James was nowhere to be found as Elle found a telephone and called a taxi to the hospital.


Jill had twin girls named Leah and Nicole. Everyone in the apartment was delighted to meet them when she brought them home; they looked positively angelic, identical blonde girls with their father's very pale skin.


Jill found that, although she was far from a "natural" mother and still not very maternal, caring for little babies wasn't as hard as she'd feared it would be. They were too cute for her to hate them! Plus she made James do all the diaper-changing. That helped her opinion.


Being friends with Elle lead to more than a few awkward situations. She'd visit unannounced and bring Will with her, and Jill couldn't resist being a little tactless.

"How's everything with you and James? Not living up to his reputation, I hope," said Elle delicately.

"Of course not, I know how to keep my man happy. Will would know all about that..."

"What?" Will gulped and Elle looked confused.

Jill smirked. "Being kept happy. You're such a great couple!"

Will sighed. Yep, DEFINITELY playing with fire.


The girls grew quickly. They were still almost identical, with only slight differences in nose-shape to tell them apart. Their personalities were similar too; both outgoing, grouchy, difficult little toddlers.

Round Seven - Knox 2

Will had finally succeeded in his quest to bed Elle, his shy, girl-next-door neighbour. He felt on top of the world. Unfortunately, his actions would soon come back to haunt him.


He didn't see her for several weeks, avoiding her calls and pretending not to be in when she knocked on the door. Eventually she managed to corner him on the apartment block landing.

"Will, I don't know how to say this. I'm pregnant. I don't want to be a single mother, and I know that deep down you're a good guy..." She kept talking, but Will's brain had switched off in shock after the P-word.


As much as he would have liked to just ignore the whole situation, he found that he couldn't. He couldn't ignore the mother of his child! And what would his father, Cassius, say if he were still alive? He'd always been so family-centric...


So Will swallowed his pride, asked Elle to live with him, and popped the question. She accepted readily. She knew that in some ways she was making a terrible mistake, but she didn't want to raise her child alone, and she thought that maybe she could tame Will's wild ways.


Will's engagement, swift marriage and impending fatherhood didn't stop Jill Davies from hanging around. The heavily pregnant homewrecker would often stand around in the apartment until she was so tired she fainted, causing Elle extreme distress.


Events hadn't changed Will all that much, either. As Elle's pregnancy progressed she found that she was much too tired to keep up with housework and hired a maid. Will was very appreciative for all the wrong reasons, and the maid was happy to oblige with talk of woo-hoo.


The maid wasn't his only conquest...


...and his hormones frequently got the better of him, bringing ladies home to the sofa while Elle slept in the bedroom, none-the-wiser.


He also rekindled things with Jill - he was playing with fire and he knew it, but she was hard to resist...


Note: JILL AND WILL ARE INSUFFERABLE. I was messing around with playing other people in the apartment blocks but not blogging them, hence Elle getting knocked up. Ah well.

Round Seven - Nakamura

Life continued at the usual fun-loving pace for the Nakamuras. The pool table was getting a lot of use.


Thanks to Sachiko and Junko's sociable attitudes to life the house was almost always crowded to bursting point, and Junko's schoolwork suffered a little as she much preferred chatting to studying. But Yuki kept her on the straight and narrow, as ever. Junko wished she could spend more time with Noah and maybe make their dating official but it didn't seem like that was happening any time soon - he was so busy working!


"So, how are things with you and Ruth?" asked Junko. Yuki feigned ignorance for a moment but one look from her twin got her to admit it.

"We've... been seeing each other. I think I might be in love with her." She smiled. "But she hasn't called lately."

Junko frowned. She liked Ruth, but she knew her type. Yuki wanted someone stable and reliable who would want to stick around, and Ruth was NOT that kind of girl. She resolved to find someone better.


As it turned out, her friend Zara swung that way and had seen Yuki around. Junko wasn't entirely sure at first - Zara wore an awful lot of makeup and was a bit of a party girl.

"I don't know. I mean, what do you want to do with your life?"

"I want to be a doctor. Or a super-scientist. I haven't decided yet," said Zara enthusiastically. "Bet you didn't see that coming. Don't judge a book by its cover, missy."

Junko grinned. A smart girl would be perfect for her sister. She promised Zara she would throw a party soon and slyly introduce them.


Meanwhile, Hiro had decided to take the plunge, and proposed to Destiny while on a romantic dinner date at the most expensive restaurant in town. She was a little hesitant at first, not wanting to leave her family, but then she decided it was now or never. Plus, it wasn't as if she couldn't call, email and visit her parents and half-siblings whenever she wanted!


So Destiny moved in with the Nakamuras. Things were going to be more than a little crowded with four adults and two teenagers in the house...


Note: There isn't a photo of the actual proposal because I was waiting for Destiny to do the whole examining-the-ring thing, or at least look happy, but she looked MISERABLE. But she accepted anyway and got a good memory from it, so I guess she did want to get engaged after all.

Round Seven - Mackenzie

The combination of Lisa's age and the fact she was carrying twins made this pregnancy difficult. She felt like she was permanently tired and nauseous! The doctor confined her to the house and said she should spend as much time in bed as possible.


For the most part life continued as normal.

"Hey! Quit it! I'm trying to watch television!" shouted Ewan over his morning espresso. But his teenage rage was forgotten the moment the caffeine fully entered his system.


Ewan's life didn't only centre around his family and Meadow. He did have other friends. Ricky was one of them. They tended to hang around playing video games, typical guy things. It escaped Ewan's attention that Ricky mostly chose to hang around when Meadow was over, though...


Meadow was considerably less oblivious to Ricky's intentions.

"Ew! I'm with Ewan, you creeper!"


Ricky eventually got the hint and things went back to normal, with Meadow and Ewan glued together at the lips most of the time.


With his mother on virtual bed rest, Ewan found himself making all the family's meals, which suited him down to the ground. Maybe he would look for a job as a chef again, after all... but there was still the restaurant critic idea. No point tying himself to one particular career yet!


Cameron was having difficulty dealing with how tired Lisa was, and curled up in bed with his mother at every opportunity. Taylor would tuck his son in and smile. This would make excellent ammunition when Cameron started bringing dates home.


After all the stress and hassle, Lisa finally gave birth to her twins. They were a bonny, healthy pair; a boy and a girl, named Douglas and Caitlyn. Like Cameron, they both had their mother's skin-tone and eye-colour, and their father's brown hair.


Lisa went back to work as soon as she could but didn't neglect her babies. The heavily pregnant Jill Davies was a friend of the family so Lisa invited her over to give her a taste of the realities of childrearing, but Jill quickly got distracted by talking to Ewan's teenage friends. They were all about the parties, not the dirty diapers! Much more interesting!


Time flew, and both Ewan and the twins had birthdays. Ewan ditched the punk look for something a little more restrained, and was considering moving out. But he was too close to his siblings to make any real decisions yet, and a little bit too much of a slacker to be trusted not to get evicted for forgetting the rent...

Notes: Ewan is definitely staying for at least another round. I still haven't decided what to do after that; either he and Meadow will find a place and this will become the Straight family house, or Lisa, Taylor and the kids will move and found a house of their own, keeping this as the Mackenzie house. I'm more likely to pick the latter, I think; Lisa's getting pretty high up in the Architecture career so she'll bring in enough money to found a new house, whereas Ewan is still unemployed...

Round Seven - Knox

The twins were growing older, and despite their similar looks they had never been more different.


Noah helped out around the house along with doing his homework, studying for tests and trying to make his way in the Oceanography career.


Ruth, on the other hand, wasn't concerned with any of these things. She could usually be found hogging the phoneline or sneakily plotting to run off downtown with friends.


One such friend was Yuki Nakamura. There was a definite spark between the two girls, despite their huge differences. Ruth was pretty sure Yuki was actually in love with her, and that made her a little sad; she was never going to feel that way, she knew it.


But it didn't stop Ruth from having some fun. Making out was her new favourite hobby!


Noah was also having some luck with the Nakamura ladies. He and Junko were dating, although they were taking things slow. Noah didn't have time for anything serious or hot-and-heavy!


Kaylynn couldn't escape Cupid either. She was feeling her age and felt like she could do with some company... she missed Cassius.


Notes: Kaylynn is edging towards Elderhood and has a want to fall in love that just won't go away, so I'm trying to find suitable specimens. It's hard. I imagine that Kaylynn would have really high standards - she isn't going to go for these one bolt matches that keep turning up!